This thread seems pretty dead so I think I should contribute some updates. I was able to read some stuff about this operation before I interviewed and hoped that since it wasn't fresh that some things had changed.... Nope, this operation felt like what others had mentioned and almost as if Nicholas Air was no longer hiding behind the "prisoner pilot" theme, but now embraced it.
Day of Interview:
Landed in Memphis and caught a 1.5hr "party van" ride down to NA headquarters in what was actually a pretty fancy ride. After getting to their HQ, went upstairs and loitered around the front desk for 5 minutes waiting for someone to greet me. Finally got greeted and signed in, waited about 5 more min until the DO came and took me into the classroom where he told me to take the on-computer test and wave at the camera when I was done. Did okay, only missed 2-3 part 135 questions out of the 30 question test. After passing the test, I moved 5 feet left did the Cirrus SF50 sim test portion (which was one of those single tv AATD sims most flight schools use,) and did well and even got a compliment from the observer. All was pretty normal and I felt very comfortable up until this point, then it went to hell; the HR sit-down portion.
The Interview:
Opened with a pretty standard tell me about yourself and aviation experience, totally normal. Then, the first real question was "So, have you applied or interviewed anywhere else?" I know that this is a pretty standard lie-detector question and if you answer "no," that throws your credibility out the window. So I answered that I had at that point applied to two other 135 operators and two 121 operators. I got hit with the "which airline did you apply to" question and the second a regional left my mouth, "Oh, you wanna be an airline pilot...." in a very condescending tone came after. The interview became very hostile and more like sitting in a police interrogation room after this exchange.
After they realized that I wasn't going to stay at them forever, they reiterated that they "really don't like to train people who are going to leave us." The interviewers did a really thorough job of going through the training bond/promissory note requirements to work there. I figured they were so thorough as an almost warning in case I thought about joining and then leaving within the next 5 years...Yes, you read that right, 5 years. The training bond for your initial SIC type is only 12 months but is required to be signed again to receive recurrent training for at least 2 more years. If you want to upgrade to PIC or a new type, you have to sign a training bond to do so until you've been with the company for at least 5 years. So, unless you want to be stuck SIC on the same type for the next 3 years, you have to sign more training bonds to upgrade until 5 years. They didn't seem ashamed of this ridiculous requirement and even embraced it as a pilot retention program.
Still on the "airline train," the COO asked me, "what even interests you about working for an airline?" I simply replied "the pay." She said, "well the DO here came from the airline world and didn't like it, plus the pay here is comparable here and the QoL is better." This was an obvious lie as they sent me their interview packet and I possess eyeballs. The hourly rate is the same but the interview packet says, "The tier pay structure is based on a guarantee of 29 flight hours a month. Pilots who fly over 29 live leg (passenger occupied) hours in any given month are paid at their calculated hourly rate for each live leg hour over their 29-hour monthly guarantee. The average live leg hours per month range from 38 to 45, depending on airframe." I don't know how they think 29 guaranteed hours and an average of 40 hours a month is "comparable in pay" to an airline that guarantees 75 hours per month and most pilots average 82 hours paid time. At this point, I knew this interview was effectively over. They felt I wasn't going to be there for the next 3-5 years and I didn't appreciate being lied to on something so easy to fact check. While I'm commenting some info about the interview packet, there's a hilarious portion in there. "You may negotiate your job offer however it is not recommended. If you decline the employment offer you will not be eligible for future hire." This screams, "you will be pilot cattle at this operation." I'll drop a link to the packet at the bottom.
The next portion of the interview was the scenario based questions, however, they all ended up being "gotcha" questions. For example, "There's a ground stop at your departure airport for 3 hours, so you and the captain head back into the FBO to wait it out. You get inside and see the captain having a drink at the full service bar. What do you do?" I answered in a negotiable themed response about how "we as pilots shouldn't be drinking alcohol before a flight" to which I was then scolded and said "are you accusing the captain of drinking alcohol? It's just tonic water and lime!" After feeling like a fool for falling for the "gotcha" question I remarked "well it's not a good look for a pilot to be drinking at the bar in uniform, even if it's not alcohol." The interviewer said, "okay, how would you apologize to the captain for accusing them of drinking?" I just sat there and questioned if this was real or if I was dreaming.
The next scenario was a member who wanted to bring 13 bags on board for a flight from Tennessee to Denver. I had to find a diplomatic answer that wouldn't **** off the member in any way shape or form. Every weight I thought about removing was not accepted, and I was really being pressured into allowing the member to bring all their bags. It eventually got whittled down to removing the emergency over water equipment and for the pilots to not bring their own bags, instead opting to, as they said, "mail them to your next airport and do the Walmart run for clothes in the mean time." Apparently, foregoing your own bags and Fedexing them to where you will be in 2 days was the answer they were looking for.
The rest of the interview is kind of a blur as I mentally resigned, and TMAAT questions. Needless to say, I walked out of there knowing I didn't get the job, nor would I have taken it if offered.
Link to Interview Guide:
https://mega.nz/file/4PJGXbTY#41sGcN...Yij-xD176EU58Q