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Boutique Air

Old 01-11-2017, 08:46 AM
  #1141  
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Joined APC: Mar 2016
Posts: 22
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Just a quick update on BTQ ops -

While I'm now a short-timer with the light at the end of the tunnel growing brighter, I can offer my observations -

BTQ remains a fantastic place to work for those that know what to expect. If DEN based, you WILL fly lots of CDOs. Probably around 7-12 per month when you start. These will never go away. That said, DEN is a great base if you want to build time and gain valuable weather experience.

The line pilots are almost all great. They're super fun to fly with, safe, and for the most part very good at what they do.

The management does seem to have a habit of piling on more "free" work for the pilot group. As more people get fed up with that, they'll leave, and maybe they'll stop doing it. Take 3-4 hours out of your day to come to a pilot meeting every month for $20? No thanks.Take an hour to reposition an airplane to and from MX for free? I'd rather not, thank you.

My only complaint with management is the chief pilot, who is universally hated by nearly everyone. He didn't get the memo that a CP is supposed to stand up to management on behalf of the pilot group, not the other way around. The good news is that if you lay low, he's harmless enough.

The ACPs, DO, ADO, training dept, HR, Scheduling, Dispatch.....all fantastic people. Some are overworked, but they handle it well.

I'll really miss flying for BTQ when I leave. I've had a blast and have no regrets, accept that I can't keep this job along with my new one.

P.S..... They'd rather you not post the interview questions (they are watching). It's not helping anyone, as they change the questions every time someone posts them. I know your intention was to help people, so kudos.
thenewguyhere is offline  
Old 01-11-2017, 09:29 AM
  #1142  
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Joined APC: Jun 2016
Posts: 65
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Originally Posted by azaz View Post
Interviewed on Sunday morning and was offered a position on Monday morning. The technical interview was about 30 minutes long asking me about [...]
Originally Posted by thenewguyhere View Post
P.S..... They'd rather you not post the interview questions (they are watching). It's not helping anyone, as they change the questions every time someone posts them. I know your intention was to help people, so kudos.
Yep - I'm not lying when I say it's basic IFR knowledge and refuse to give out specific questions. They're fairly textbook and there are no trick questions. If you can't answer them on your own, you're going to have a bad time through training.

I'm still enjoying BTQ as well. Haven't had much contact with the chief aside from what goes out to everyone, but I'm not in DEN. Pilots are generally friendly and down-to-earth. We've had some WX+MX issues lately that have been frustrating for everyone in the company, but from what I can see they've done their best to handle them. Word is we also have two new PC-12s coming within the next month or so. Still don't have any regrets about coming here. Still plan to upgrade at 1200 hours and reassess around 1500.
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Old 01-11-2017, 10:13 AM
  #1143  
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Joined APC: Dec 2016
Posts: 8
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Originally Posted by thenewguyhere View Post
Just a quick update on BTQ ops -

While I'm now a short-timer with the light at the end of the tunnel growing brighter, I can offer my observations -

BTQ remains a fantastic place to work for those that know what to expect. If DEN based, you WILL fly lots of CDOs. Probably around 7-12 per month when you start. These will never go away. That said, DEN is a great base if you want to build time and gain valuable weather experience.

The line pilots are almost all great. They're super fun to fly with, safe, and for the most part very good at what they do.

The management does seem to have a habit of piling on more "free" work for the pilot group. As more people get fed up with that, they'll leave, and maybe they'll stop doing it. Take 3-4 hours out of your day to come to a pilot meeting every month for $20? No thanks.Take an hour to reposition an airplane to and from MX for free? I'd rather not, thank you.

My only complaint with management is the chief pilot, who is universally hated by nearly everyone. He didn't get the memo that a CP is supposed to stand up to management on behalf of the pilot group, not the other way around. The good news is that if you lay low, he's harmless enough.

The ACPs, DO, ADO, training dept, HR, Scheduling, Dispatch.....all fantastic people. Some are overworked, but they handle it well.

I'll really miss flying for BTQ when I leave. I've had a blast and have no regrets, accept that I can't keep this job along with my new one.

P.S..... They'd rather you not post the interview questions (they are watching). It's not helping anyone, as they change the questions every time someone posts them. I know your intention was to help people, so kudos.
Originally Posted by RBZL View Post
Yep - I'm not lying when I say it's basic IFR knowledge and refuse to give out specific questions. They're fairly textbook and there are no trick questions. If you can't answer them on your own, you're going to have a bad time through training.

I'm still enjoying BTQ as well. Haven't had much contact with the chief aside from what goes out to everyone, but I'm not in DEN. Pilots are generally friendly and down-to-earth. We've had some WX+MX issues lately that have been frustrating for everyone in the company, but from what I can see they've done their best to handle them. Word is we also have two new PC-12s coming within the next month or so. Still don't have any regrets about coming here. Still plan to upgrade at 1200 hours and reassess around 1500.
Thanks for the updates guys.
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Old 01-11-2017, 10:32 AM
  #1144  
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Joined APC: May 2012
Posts: 927
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thanks guys, great info.
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Old 01-11-2017, 02:13 PM
  #1145  
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Joined APC: Apr 2016
Position: PC12, Captain
Posts: 33
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Once again I piggy back on what my friend "thenewguyhere" had to say. Nailed it as usual. I'll miss flying with him.

But while he sees "light at the end of the tunnel" and chooses to move on, I choose to stick around for the long haul and see what happens. I expect I'll be here a minimum of another 18 months. By choice.

We've experienced growing pains for sure, and the last couple of weeks have been much more work than fun, but management is well aware of it. It is amazing how far a little thing like an email from the CEO thanking us for hard work during difficult times goes, at least for me. And we got one of those yesterday.

I think there are big things ahead, and I'd hate to miss out on it. Good luck to those of you who are interviewing, and congrats to the new hire. Welcome aboard. But let me reiterate the warning-don't give out the interview questions, especially with enough information attached to easily identify you. They really don't like it, and I totally get and support that. There's more than enough info in this now 115 page thread anyway.
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Old 01-12-2017, 05:44 PM
  #1146  
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Originally Posted by godsnotapilot View Post
I had Monique call me about four months after I originally applied. Took a few days but we finally got the interview set up. My scheduled time had past so I sent an email asking her if was central or mountain time. After that she called back and admitted she had forgot about my interview. You could tell she was super busy and she wanted to reschedule, but then she suggested that we get the interview done right then and there. It sounded like she was walking to her car or something. The interview seemed to go well though. She said if I didn't hear back from anybody in about four weeks to contact her again.

For what it's worth. I saw a post on here earlier somebody was saying they believe Boutique gets about 30 apps a day, Monique told me is more like 100.


So, where are you at now? I just had the interview with her this week, and she said the same thing. Overall a straightforward and pleasant HR interview.
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Old 01-12-2017, 06:23 PM
  #1147  
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Joined APC: May 2012
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Originally Posted by MockAlpha View Post
So, where are you at now? I just had the interview with her this week, and she said the same thing. Overall a straightforward and pleasant HR interview.

Congrats on your interview!. So they don't schedule the technical interview? she just said 4 weeks?
Javichu is offline  
Old 01-13-2017, 11:53 AM
  #1148  
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Joined APC: May 2012
Posts: 927
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I had my HR interview and I agree with the rest of the people, nice short call, fair interview, good experience overall!.

For those who passed the HR and then had the technical, do you remember if the HR lady said she would pass the application to her manager, and if finally approved, you'd have the technical interview?.
I didn't know the manager had to approve, but maybe it's just my case.

Last edited by Javichu; 01-13-2017 at 12:28 PM.
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Old 01-23-2017, 05:12 AM
  #1149  
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Joined APC: Jan 2017
Posts: 1
Default Phx Life

Doing the technical interview soon for a captain slot out of PHX. Just wondering what PHX life is like. Thanks.
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Old 01-23-2017, 08:09 AM
  #1150  
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Posts: 65
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Originally Posted by drewjsmi View Post
Doing the technical interview soon for a captain slot out of PHX. Just wondering what PHX life is like. Thanks.
I'd be surprised if you got PHX as a Captain - we're already heavy on PICs here, with another SIC set to upgrade soon. Half of the PICs are only flying ~20 hours this month as a result.

We only have two trips out of PHX and there isn't really any management around, so it's pretty laid back.
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