Four showed. TTs ranged from 1200 to 2400. Ages ranged
from late 20s to around 40. Gave us the
Wonderlic Test, then the instrument test. Both
were as previously described. After the exams,
each of us had a two-on-one with Rosa and a
145 captain. Afterwards, I spoke with
all the candidates at the airport. The interviews
were nearly identical. HR questions from Rosa
and "how would you deal with..." questions from
the captain. No plates, charts, tech, or systems
questions. None of us got a sim ride. One
of the applicants had a friend who interviewed
two days earlier. There were six in that group,
none of whom got the sim. Maybe the sim
was broken. Maybe they changed their profile.
Maybe none of us was qualified. My friend
interviewed last week and got the RJ. He also
got tech questions and a sim ride. Overall, nice
people.

It started at 0900 with 8 applicates. A briefing about Chautauqua was
conducted by Madlyn Green. The Company started in 1973 in Jamestown, NY as a
small family run business. It moved to IND in 1994 and brought in 1997 by
Wexford Investment Inc. They have the first of 30 Jungle Jets on property.
It will go on line 1 July 99. They also operate 12 Saab 340 and 18 BA3100.
Benifits are Blue Cross/Blue Shield for Medical and Dental. 401k investment
program which is vested in 3 years. 15% employee and 2.5% Company after 1
year. Pay is $19.00 for all FO's and $26.38 for 1st BA3100 Captain. They
are hiring Captains off the street and are giving Super senority for 18
months. Equipment lock for 1 year. Currently 300 pilots on senority list.
Senority list starts when you start at Flight Safety. Hired by company after
completion of training. They still are pay for training paid back over 6
years with company.

In a group interview following tests were given. Psyc test, Instrument test
with some airplane questions, and WPT smarts test. Following questions on
Instrument test: they used Tri-City TN for questions. Very easy if you know
Jeppesen Charts, no hidden problems. 2 question on turbine were open to
discussion depending on engine maker. Answer all engine questions per Garret
engines.

The interview was with Madly Green being bird dogged by Kathy Wooldrige. May
get Chief pilot or senior pilot off line as other interviewer. All questions
used by all airline companies. Why do you want to work for Chautauqua? Give
us a brief background of your flying? What is the Vlo for your present
airplane? Can you afford motel and expenses for 5 weeks without pay. What
do you think of PFT? They still have PFT if you do not have 2500 tt/ 1000
turbine/ 500 PIC. If you have that amount time they will hire you as Captain
and then it is not PFT. One must still have to work for 5 weeks without pay.
They are offering class dates as close as 2 days away if one can make it.
Anyone hired now will not be on reserve. They have 2 aircraft parked because
of lack of crews. They had 8 Captains quit in 1 day last week. They are
putting out that they have about 10 per month leaving. I believe it may be
more that that. They know it will get worst during the summer as others
start hiring faster. I know at least 2 interviewers left before they had
their one on one interview. They told the company that they were not paying
enough for them to accept a position, even as a Captain.

I will fill you in on more infor as I hear form Chautauqua.

Thank you for your service. It is great.

I interviewed at Chautauqua this past December. The interview descriptions
below are pretty accurate, but here's my two cents...

There were four of us in the interview group: I don't know how many were
initially scheduled. We were all CFI types but with a wide range of
experience; 1800 to 8000 hours (I'm nearer the low end).

We were first given a briefing on the company by HR Manager Rosa Mosley.

Chautauqua is on of 12 regional airlines serving US Airways. They started
operations in 1973. Moved to IND in 1994. They've doubled the number of
employees in the last 2 1/2 years. They presently have 470 pilots and will
be hiring 200 this year. They have 19 Saabs and 10 E145s serving US Airways
and 7 Saabs and 15 E145s serving TWA, with options for 10 more. It will be
interesting to see if their fleet development plans change in light of TWA's
recent chapter 11/ AAL buyout. J31s are already phased out as you read
this. Bases are IND, PIT, LGA, FWA, Hagerstown, and STL (the only TWA
base). At the time of my interview they were planning more TWA bases but
now...? You will not be paid during class (you're not hired until after
class, technically), but you are given a $125/week per diem. They do pick
up your hotel and you can travel to training space-available.
We were given the Wonderlic test first. Not much I can add to the other
accounts here. It's timed but not real difficult. I think you'll do better
if you're able to relax and don't take it too seriously.

Next came a general instrument knowledge test. Take this one seriously. I
studied and I think I have better than average aeronautical knowledge, but
there were a couple of questions with which I embarrassed myself. Know VOR
service volumes and Localizer and Glideslope frequency ranges. I never got
a lot of the questions listed in the other descriptions; maybe there are
different versions of the test. Everybody in my group was given the same
test.

We were then given the schedule for interviews; I was last. The first one
was came back and said he thought he'd bombed it. (He had about 4000
hours). I was surprised by this. I then noticed his tennis shoes (Yeah, I
think he bombed it)! The next two each came back and were all told they were
done and would be notified of the results later. Then came my turn: I was
interviewed by Rosa Mosley (HR director) and Rodney (Asst. Chief Pilot).
Both nice people. Rosa started off with general HR questions:
What is the most difficult decision you ever made?
What kind of decisions do you most hate making?
Why do you want to fly for Chautauqua?
Why should we hire you?
What's the most irresponsible thing you have ever done in an airplane?
What's the most stressful thing you have ever had happen in an airplane?
Then Rod had the aviations questions:
Jepp chart - lots of "What does this mean?"
What's the biggest airplane you've ever flown? (but no questions about that
plane)
What airplane would you want to fly at Chautauqua? (I stated no
preference - the Saab's a nice plane and the E145...)
On a scale of 1 - 10 describe yourself as a pilot.

Nobody else had gone to the sim and I had been told by several people not to
expect a sim ride but I got one. A single engine Frasca, no HSI or visual.
Very straight forward single pilot IFR general aviation stuff. Take off,
turns to headings, published ILS (I forgot which one ) into IND, published
missed approach. They're not expecting briefings, checklists, or speed
control; just basic instrument skills. I got a letter offering me a job
about 10 days later.
They seem like a good company and the more I learn about them, the more I'd
recommend them. They want good pilots but they are mainly looking for good
people (work ethic, integrity, pleasant personality) so make sure this comes
out in your interview.