Just wondering for those of you that are interviewing at the regionals.... What do you say when they ask "so why do you want to work at XYZ airline?"

I know for most the truthful answer would be "because you called me for an interview." My guess is "I like the equipment/bases/etc... but was wondering what people are actually saying.

 

If you get the interview and don't have a reason you want to work there (equipment, bases, upgrade time, QOL, etc) you probably don't want to be interviewing anyway.

Even if you just need the job... You can find something to promote yourself for wanting to work there. Do some research, read the gouge (they expect you to) and go in acting like you actually give a damn about yourself (wear a suit!!!).

Good luck!

 

I don't have an interview. I was just wondering with the way everyone seems to hate the regionals, what they actually found good to say when asked that question.

 

The safest answer is probably one based on geography, wherever the company has most of it's bases. Commuting makes pilots more likely to be late, miss flights, call in sick, and quit so if they will like it if they think you plan on living local.

 

I have an interview coming up soon and a question like that doesn't worry me. The ones I worry about are the ones I have no experience with - what do you do at minimums if your captain doesn't go around? Your captain shows up smelling like alcohol? Last leg of a trip and you find nav light out and captain says "Ill fix it" and comes back saying its fixed.

Those you cannot throw some HR jems at them, but I have no experience with these things. Didn't mean to hijack thread but if you have interview coming up, hope you are prepared for these type of questions as wel.

 

Below minimums - Heck yes! you get to land!! ... There's honestly not a good answer for this question. The "best" answer would be to announce to ATC that you're on the missed approach. Everyone asks this question ... but I don't think I've ever heard of it actually happening before. They just want to know you're not going to try to pry the controls out of his hands in such a critical phase of flight.

Smelling like alcohol - Why didn't they ask you to join in?! ... Tell them you can smell it on them and that you'll both call in sick with food poisoning. This was he doesn't think you're throwing him under the bus. If he refuses then you'll have to call out sick to make sure the flight doesn't depart, and possibly call the DO (duty officer).

Nav light - If one is out you still have another. If they're both out well then is it day time? If so, you're legal. If it's night then that just sucks. Try powering down the aircraft and then back up .. it's actually worked for me before. If nothing works ... It's happened to me before except I didn't say "I fixed it, let's go" ... had to write it up. Granted it wasn't the night before a holiday or anything like that ... but still.

Hope this helps... PM me if you have any other questions.

 

Captain fails to go around at minimums: Tell the tower you are going around and put your hand on the gear lever.

Captain smells like alcohol: Tell the captain he looks sick and offer to call scheduling for him.

Nav light out: Call dispatch and let them know.

Interviewers want to make sure you will play by the rules. If you think you are doing the company a favor by dipping below minimums, hiding a drunk captain, or flying a broken plane, you are incorrect. The days of shady regionals are over and there is a media spotlight waiting for the next airline to make a mistake. Doing a flight with a missing nav light might seem minor, but if the media ever got wind of an un-airworthy plane flying passengers, the negative press gained will do much worse than annoying a plane full of passengers and delaying their flight.

 

Same points ... just he was more blunt and to the point, lol

 

You beat me to the punch.

 

To prevent a thread drift...

To the OP's questions and all other common interview questions, I will give the answers that I gave that seemed to have worked.

When I was asked why I wanted to work there, it was easy for Colgan. I liked the EWR base, I liked the equipment, I liked the TA, I liked the stability the company appeared to have with a fuel efficient plane that had long term contracts, I liked the apparent growth, and I liked the few pilots I knew and the positive things they had to say about the company (positive compared to what pilots at other regionals had to say about their company).

When they asked what you would do when the captain goes below minimums, I explained that it was a complicated scenario with many options. I made it clear that 200 ft was not the time to fight for control of the aircraft. I then went on to explain that a pilot would not have made it to the left seat if they routinely broke regs like that. I told them I would assume it was a momentary lapse in judgment, so I would remind them to go around and then announce we are going around to the tower. If the captain still did not respond, I would place my hand on the gear lever and tell the captain I was not going to let him land. By that point that captain should see the writing on the wall and go around, if he doesn't, he is probably incapacitated. At any point, if we see the runway, I would continue and let the captain land and deal with it on the ground.

When they asked me about a missing nav light, I said the MEL makes the situation black and white. I told them that the FAA and the company put a lot of work into their FOM, MEL, and SOPs and that I was hired to follow them.

When they asked about flying with a drunk captain, I told them I would do everything physically possible to keep the captain off the plane and preferable out of the terminal. I told them that today’s media would go crazy if just one passenger thought a pilot looked drunk. I told them that my career, the company's reputation, and the safety of the public are not worth that captain's career or the passengers’ flight home. I told them this job is tough enough and I have better things to do than to go out of my way to cover up for an alcoholic pilot. The panel approved, but one captain added that I could always call in sick if I liked the captain. I told them I would probably do that, but if this is the same captain who went below minimums and tried to fly the plane without the nav light, I wouldn't waste my cell phone minutes on him.

The interview was fun and took about 7 minutes. I think that they liked that I was direct, didn't waste their time with vague answers, and didn't look like I was trying to answer the questions they way I thought they wanted me to answer. It helped that I had no pressure to get the job because the job I was currently in was growing and offering me great opportunities, albeit restricted to single engine turbine operations. Just be honest with them and remember that it is your personality that they care about, not the answers. If they like your personality, but you answers were not always what they wanted, that is what training is for.