chase

TC,

Thanks for inquiring. Having similar 121 experience as yourself (SWA for me), you have the advantage I didn’t and that was experience in the 135 world. “Eyes wide open” comes to mind and yes you are right, no aviation job is without warts and all.

Because all of aviation is such a volatile industry with ups and downs occurring without any foreknowledge, predicting more than 6 months out is tough to do. That being said, I would begin a cursory search 1 yr out by collecting current intel on the players you are interested in, i.e. XO or others that suit your fancy. At the 6 month point begin to narrow down your list of contenders and take the corporate intel gathered from Google search of news clippings on current corporate happenings, meet up at your nearest FBO (check Flightaware.com for flights coming airport conversations, commuters, favorite watering holes and start applying.

I believe XO has interviewed folks as far out as 6 months from their availability but not any further out. My target was 4 months out when I applied.

I do find the culture here good, on par with what I found at SWA quite honestly. Smaller of course in scale but very pilot centric flight ops leadership. If you want to talk further, just PM me and we’ll connect.

AA717driver

Thanks chase! I’ll check back.

TC

chase

My pleasure...I never miss an opportunity to thank an AA employee for the following:

a big thanks to AA for their support since 2007 of Snowball Express which supports children of military fallen heroes who have lost a parent while serving in the military. Gary Sinise came on board in 2007 and he tells his story and SBE story in the interview above. SBE now falls under the Gary Sinise Foundation

I worked with that program and AA's support was invaluable in bringing children to CA, TX and now FL to be with other children who pay for the price of freedom everyday with the loss of parent.

All the pilots and FAs who work those flights for free and the other AA employees who volunteer for that program hold a special place in my mind in helping make it happen every year. AA may have problems but helping these children and surviving spouses makes for some special memories that are priceless for these families and the volunteers...I know because it changed my life and direction.

Anybody who reads this and knows of a military family with children between ages 5-18 who have lost a parent while serving in the military are eligible to attend for FREE. Go to this page, scroll to the bottom of the page to register the family in order to attend the annual event in December.

biigD

You're welcome, and thank *you*. I've participated in Snowball Express as a 737 FO and it was one of best experiences of my career.

shrsailplanes

How is the final interview conducted these days? Is it in person? Is it with the executive staff?

chase

Since Covid the final interview has been via video with senior management rwp.

The goal is to get back to in person for the process but with recent CDC guidelines about masks, the current process of videos will continue most likely.

MysteriousMrX

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...130Z/EINN/LMML

is XO going overseas again? Didn’t they used to a lot more?

CaptYoda

AviationInterviews.com has some very useful information based on recent interviews from most outfits.

chase

MMX,

Short answer is yes. XO sent a two ship of Challengers left this week for 5 weeks of operating in the EU theater. Crews will be swapped out half way through (pilots and cabin hostesses). Without the help of Vista Jet, this would have been a difficult lift to say the least. In the history of the company this is not new as planes were used in the ME many yeas ago for a short time and the trigger was ready to be pulled on this previously but COVID shut down the opportunity.

No plans for the X’s to go over at this point according to leadership…small steps and with more aircraft coming to the fleet in the next 6-12 months, this foray will give the company data on where money can be made. Loads of questions we all have but those answers aren’t forthcoming but clearly XO has growth plans that make the future look interesting to say the least. Thanks to the volunteers who made the decision to make this happen and all the folks behind the scenes at FXE and Malta who helped put the pieces together.

BTW, MMrX, you are quite astute at picking that traffic up…well done!

jet gladiator

Can someone give me insight on the training timeline? I have been told it is 10 days and then 21 days. Is there a break between? How long? Where is each part of training held? FLL? DFW?
Do the insurance benefits truly start on the 1st day?

Thanks!