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FAPA Job Fair Chicago

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Old 06-21-2012, 03:37 AM
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Default FAPA Job Fair Chicago

Looking to make my move to the airlines at the end of the year upon finishing my bachelors, beginning the job hunt now though. I received a flyer regarding this job fair in Chicago on June 30th.

FAPA.aero | Pilot Job Fairs

Has anyone ever attended one of these job fairs or have any input on this event. I am a bit hesitant to pay the money to attend this event as I fear it may be a scam. From my research and what I have been told from other pilots in the industry, several of the airlines advertised to be at this job fair are not only NOT hiring, but still have pilots on furlough.

If anyone has any input it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
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Old 06-21-2012, 08:18 AM
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Originally Posted by amortensen View Post
Looking to make my move to the airlines at the end of the year upon finishing my bachelors, beginning the job hunt now though. I received a flyer regarding this job fair in Chicago on June 30th.

FAPA.aero | Pilot Job Fairs

Has anyone ever attended one of these job fairs or have any input on this event. I am a bit hesitant to pay the money to attend this event as I fear it may be a scam. From my research and what I have been told from other pilots in the industry, several of the airlines advertised to be at this job fair are not only NOT hiring, but still have pilots on furlough.

If anyone has any input it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Never heard of these guys. Be careful.
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Old 06-21-2012, 09:27 AM
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Originally Posted by brianb View Post
Never heard of these guys. Be careful.
Lou Smith is legit. He was in the Air Force with my brother and they later flew at Hughes and Northwest together.

USUALLY showing up at these job fairs allow the recruiters to put a face to a name and assuming you aren't out to lunch, you get a leg up on upcoming interviews.

The reason I say usually is that if the airlines aren't hiring, then it could be a while before you get an interview. Nevertheless, it's better to show these recruiters who you are versus an application stacked amongst the thousands of other applications.

They do appreciate the effort pilots put into coming to these job fairs.

Say hi to Judy Tarver for me if you go. And if you have any further questions don't hesitate to pm me.
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Old 06-21-2012, 09:28 AM
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Originally Posted by brianb View Post
Never heard of these guys. Be careful.
This is new website for the old FLTOPS.com. Judy Tarver has always done a pretty decent job setting these up. Over the last few years the job fairs have been pretty slow for the major airlines but have been a good opportunity for lower-time guys that are looking to get on with a regional airline. It gives you an opportunity to get some face time with the recruiters.
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Old 06-21-2012, 10:18 AM
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Originally Posted by amortensen View Post
Has anyone ever attended one of these job fairs or have any input on this event. I am a bit hesitant to pay the money to attend this event as I fear it may be a scam.
Originally Posted by brianb View Post
Never heard of these guys. Be careful.
Originally Posted by siemprerojo View Post
Lou Smith is legit. He was in the Air Force with my brother and they later flew at Hughes and Northwest together.
New guys probably don't remember FAPA from the late 80's, but Lou Smith was half of FAPA, Kit Darby being the other half. There was falling out between the two and FAPA disolved, a move that resulted in Darby's AirInc, and later Lou Smith's FltOps.com.

Lou and FltOps.com have been friends of APC since 2005 and I can vouch for his legitimacy and background. The only thing that's changed is the name - FltOps.com is now FAPA (Future Airline Pilots of America). I guess you could say Lou is FAPA.......again.


Here's more: Airline Pilot Central - Future airline pilot hiring - a Q&A with Louis Smith

Louis Smith
Chairman and President of CyberCompass Corporation
Phone: 800 JET JOBS
Email: [email protected]

Louis Smith, President of FAPA.aero, is a retired Northwest Airlines captain, completing his career flying the DC-10 on international routes. Captain Smith began his airline career with Hughes Airwest in 1976. He holds an Air Transport Pilot (ATP) rating, a Flight Engineer (FE) certificate and is a graduate of the University of Tennessee (Martin). Smith, a veteran of the United States Air Force, flew the C-9A on aeromedical evacuation missions from 1971 through 1974.

Outside of the cockpit, Smith's vision has long been in managing businesses whose primary mission focused on publishing and organizing information that would help current and aspiring commercial pilots succeed in their career--before and after landing the cockpit job. Getting a job in commercial aviation requires more than stick-and-rudder skills, and Smith has spent the past 35 years assisting pilots in reaching their career goals by providing a one-stop shop for the information required to stay on top of this dynamic and complex industry.

Smith founded CyberCompass Corporation, the parent company of FAPA.aero, in 1996, and by 1998 was in business as a Web-only career planning service for professional pilots.

Smith, 64, was the founder of Future Aviation Professionals of America (FAPA), and served as its CEO from 1974 to 1996. During that time, FAPA served more than 100,000 pilots, aviation maintenance technicians and flight attendants through its publishing, career seminars, career counseling and other advisory services.

Over the years, he has been quoted in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Time magazine, Aviation Week & Space Technology, USA Today, and hundreds of others. Smith also has appeared on CNN during a live broadcast and on National Public Radio as an expert panelist discussing a pilot labor dispute.
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Old 06-21-2012, 01:30 PM
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FAPA is not a scam. They used to be called FltOps.com but now they are called FAPA. FAPA stands for Future & Active Pilot Advisors. I guess they went back to the old name because it was familiar to older pilots in the airline industry.

You can apply online and hope an airline calls you or you can attend an event and talk directly to the recruiter. You will have about five minutes to show the recruiter why you belong at their airline. The most important thing to bring is a great attitude. The recruiters are looking for motivated individuals who are outgoing and friendly. Make sure you do your homework on airlines you are targeting. Don't forget to network with other pilots at the event. You never know where your next job lead will come from.

If you have any questions about job fairs, send me a PM. We are FAPA's competition. Good luck.
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Old 02-20-2014, 04:22 PM
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Bump

Anybody out there with experience or knowledge in how the seniority number at the fapa job fairs work: is that number(e.g. 300) allow you in the door(in order, I guess?) To see ALL the airlines or is the number just allow you to see only one target airline?
My story is that I only care to see UAL.
I guess what I am trying to ask is: that 300 number, does that mean that I'm number 300 in the door and then it's like six flags and I can make a mad dash to get in line for the ride I want(iow run to get in line at the United booth.
Anyone give me a nutshell idea of what exactly that seniority number does? And God-willing UAL does attend, how can I use that seniority number to see them?
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