I love reading this stuff. In the not so distant past, I went to a DCA interview. I was warned against it by many of my acquaintances who worked there. I had a few close friends who, when meeting with them, would do nothing but complain about working at DCA. Yeah, they had free flight benefits, but they would frequently have such trouble catching a flight, they'd either not make it to where they were going until the next day, or have trouble coming back. One of them waited 3 days for a plane that they were finally allowed to take back home. What's more, even if you can fly to Paris; The City of Lights, or Sidney, or even The Big Apple, (Wow!) for free,.... at $14/hr. what are you gonna do there?? You wont have the money to stay. What are you gonna do, take a picture from the airport taxi stand, turn around and walk back to checkin??

As for the interview, what appears to be a knowledge or aptitude test, is in all reality a personality profile. Most kids (who DCA relies heavily upon not knowing when they're being completely Rogered) wont recognize it as such. On this timed test, they actually had the balls to ask,

"What is a Union? A) A perfect meeting of man and wife. B) A fair way to resolve labor disputes C) A dry soldered gasket at the 7th Fetzer valve junction."

Since I knew that no union represented airline would EVER get away with having that question presented during an interview, I answered what I knew. BEWARE. Although DCA is not an airline, nor do they have any unions (what a shocker), these people meet REGULARLY with all the regionals they refer applicants to. They know what most airlines are not looking for; future union delegates or pro-union people. Correct me if I'm wrong here, hasn't it been illegal to ask anything about unions during an interview for a union job since the Labor Acts were passed in the 1930's. It is however not illegal for a company like DCA to ask union related prequalifying questions at an interview FOR THEM.

Avoid working for DCA. You'll only be hanging yourself. If you do, I hope your parents live in Sanford, since, if you take a job with DCA you'll be forced to move back home.

In the end, I went with a 30/hr. flight school where I'm treated with the respect every professional pilot deserves and I'm not viewed as a "host" or "target".

 

I honestly think I could collect more with unemployment than I'd make working there...

 

I do not like the way DCA treats their instructors but that statment is incorrect.

 

Most of those kids are from small towns or villages in China. I don't agree with communism but assuming where these kids came from is not the right attitude. I was in the international group at DCA, I talked to them everyday. As a matter of fact, I was the only Asian CFI at DCA (at the time). Born and raised in the United States and served in the Marine Corps. These kids got to a U.S. flight school by performing top scores on tests and college. It was a long road for them to get this far, they almost lost everything they worked for. Understand the program before you attack the students.

 

I went through the interview on wednesday. They require 800 hour dual given hitch. I wasn't told this anytime before I stepped into the interview room. They claim it takes about a year to a year and a half in average to get 800 hour dual given there. Take it for what it's worth.

 

What color turban was he wearing?

 

Let me add one to that, Heard a DCA plane calling 10 miles out from a local airport here in Florida, then I heard the 5 mile call, then he was downwind, base, and going missed because the Airport has been closed all month for runway repairs. I calmly stated, " Don't they teach you guys to check notam's"?

 

Good job, Dr. Frankenstein! You successfully re-animated a thread from 1.5 years ago...