C212135,

They emailed me about 2 weeks after I applied on the website, I interviewed two weeks later (being AD I needed a week heads-up to work the flight schedule and get the time off). I finally got the offer 7 weeks after that, which I think was driven more by my release date than anything else - I interviewd on Sept 19th, and they were looking to fill an Oct 9th class (per my interview letter), but my AD release is in December. I was hired into a Jan 7th class.

The interview was very much a "get to know you" session. We went through my background, experience, a bunch of Navy jokes, sea stories and a couple TMAT that they are required to ask (BTW, #8 was pretty simple). They gave a great, interactive brief on the company and it's plans, since there is not much info on the street. Overall, they are looking to see if they want to spend long hours in a cockpit with you and since the company is still new, are you up for the responsibility of leading the company as it grows. Not a "normal" interview, and very similar to the non-flying ones I've done. Think more "management" than "pilot".

I don't know the actual $$ with the medical plans, but they use Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Washington.

For the type/ATP, I did HP based on recomendations from some buds. It was a great program, the Joe, Mark and the staff are AWESOME (they will try their best to fatten you up and keep you on a sugar induced high during the class portion), after finishing you are part of their "family" and the girls there are pro's when it comes to doing the VA paperwork for you. If you have the hours (I'm short since they don't count helo time), the incestuous relationship they have with SWA isn't a bad thing either (among other relationships, a good portion of the sim instructors teach at SWA too) and the SWA recruiting team comes to visit the class each week. The only drawback I can see is the sim they own is a -200, but I did mine on a -300 (more modern autopilot and FMS) that they leased time for. They work with military folks enough that they are familiar with deployments (and the constraints caused by them) and via email with attachments will set you up with a class date and ship you the reading material (you need 60hrs of pre-study) while you're deployed...I got mine on the ship just fine. About 1/2 my class of 18 was military. HP was the only placed I looked, but I've heard the school in Phoenix is OK, and I think there is one in Denver that guarantees an EFIS sim.

I'm going to work for a contractor in Pax River as a consultant. I'll be working on the E-2 HE2K and the E-2D programs, and may get to do some flying too if the cards fall in the right order. My starting pay is about 50% more than Cargo360, and I get to play with all the geeky new technology. Should be a blast.

HTH
Spongebob