Quest Diagnostics 2019
 

Quest Diagnostics is kicking off 2019 looking to add a captain on the Pilatus PC-12 and BE-58 Baron to our Atlanta, GA (KLZU) base. The official HR posting is not up yet, but feel free to PM resumes or visit our Quest Air Facebook page. Below is a link to a Facebook post to express interest in the position.

https://www.facebook.com/18775241458...9699345262426/

If you found yourself sitting in a hotel or FBO on Christmas day, wishing you were home, this is the job for you! Monday - Friday (holidays off). Refer to our previous thread QUEST DIAGNOSTICS 2018 for all the dirt you could want on us.

We are currently upgrading the avionics on our entire PC-12 fleet, see the attached picture of one that recently rolled out of upgrade. Several of current and former pilots for Quest are on this site and are always more than happy to answer questions.

Do you guys have CASS or do you have to live in base?


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Need to live near base. We come home everyday.


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Just wondering, I thought it was four day work weeks?

It’s true that flying 5 days a week is rare. But we try to let that be a bonus, so that people do not come in with unrealistic expectations.


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Thank you for responding so quickly and that’s good to know.

I’m approaching 2000 TT and a majority of my time is multi turbine (was fortunate enough that I didn’t have to flight instruct). My current flight job is 135 freight, single pilot flying a metroliner. Just wondering, what would my chances be going straight into the Pilatus vs the baron?

Thank you again for responding.

You would be in both. Baron exclusively until a class date is available for PC12. We fly a different route each night, so that means occasionally you end up on one of the remaining Baron routes.


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Any ideas on a timeline for LZU FO openings?

What do you all like to see for FO applicants? And not just the total time range, but also what you look for on a resume.

Thanks!

Im sure Falken will have a much better response for you but I figure I would give what little info I know. hopfully that will suffice until you can get a better answer.

I and one other guy were hired at Quest recently for the two FO spots in RDG. They have two tiers of first officers depending upon the experience you come in with.

I was hired as the higher tier FO with 1700 hours, CFI, and part 135 experience flying jets in the right seat and the pc-12 in the left seat.

The other guy i believe has just below 1000 hours and is a local CFI.

From what ive learned during my quest (no pun intended) to work here it seems like there is a very diverse background of flying and experience here.

If interested I would add all of the experience you can fit onto your resume and apply whenever you see an opening. I dont know how common this is but I was trying to grab a spot here since 2015 but it just never worked out until now. It does seem to help a ton if you are local to the operation and I moved closer to Reading last june to be closer to family so it all worked out in the end.

I would also network network network. Use this forum as a tool. If you see someone constantly on here answering questions give them a PM and try your best to stay in contact with them. you never know where it may lead!

Good luck!

Could you elaborate on your experience there? What you're flying right now, your trips, times, etc? We really haven't gotten many PIREPS about actually working there.

Thanks!

I wouldnt be able to really answer that as I start indoc next week and the only flight experience I have with them was the run they have you do for the interview.

I can elaborate what I have seen so far and Im sure Falken could do an exponentially better job than I describing the day by day.

I will start flying the pc-12 right seat. it is my understanding that all baron runs are single pilots only a PIC will be on those. The one trip I did was 9 legs total mostly NY,PA, and DC area airports. I got to ops around 2000 and we finished at 0430 which was a touch behind schedule. We would arrive unload/load the sample bags and then depart for our next airport. sometimes the drivers would be waiting sometimes we would wait for them for a few minutes. In total i was on duty for 8.5 hours and we flew 4.3 hours.

In my opinion the benefits they offer are fantastic. Their maintenance also seems great. They look at each airplane daily and they all had a clean squawk sheet and everything worked as it should. Everyone I have met is super friendly and seems like they genuinely love where they work. I am extremely excited to start my career here and am definitely looking foward to the future. I will try and continuously update the forums as a new hire to give everyone as much info as I able about the on boarding process.

Keep us updated.

Thanks!

FO requirements
 

*** One of two posts. Next I will answer QOL ***

We usually look for FOs to have ~1000 hrs. Most come in with some experience in turbine aircraft. We like to see more multi time than just your checkride, but we understand that at ~1000 hrs it's very likely this will be minimal. Also working as a full-time professional pilot (CFI, pt 135, or pt 91) for about a year shows us you have some valuable personal experience to build-on. If your full-time gig is primarily VFR (banner towing, ag, surveying) I would recommend you take an active approach to keeping your instrument skills sharp and let us know in your application or cover letter what you have been doing.

Building off the professional flying, life experience is strongly considered. We are looking to hire good decision makers. The FO position is meant to be a mentorship, not a career position. Life experience helps you develop self-awareness to apply to your decision making (I'll elaborate in my next post).

Normally we meet applicants for dinner before they go flying. This gives us a chance to get to know you and for you to feel learn more about us; primarily, can we sit beside you without having malicious thoughts within the first hour. Also gives us a chance to learn about what experience you have and the tough decisions you have had to make in aviation or other careers.

During the flight, you will fly approaches and have a little introduction to our flows/checklists. We are not looking for you to be able to operate the PC-12 without guidance or know the numbers. We want to see how you accept instruction/feedback, can you hold altitudes, how you communicate with ATC, can you stay on LOC/GS, how you brief an approach, etc. ***The fundamental*******

I do my best to provide the majority of you with feedback as I have contact with you or receive your resume. I am keeping up with forums, Facebook, email, etc. so I sometimes run out of time to respond to each private message or I forget to make a note to reply to a certain person. Please accept my apologies if I do not reply and do not hesitate to send me a reminder.

Quality of Life
 

*** This is based on my experience being based at LZU. The schedule varies greatly based on the base ***

In Atlanta our runs leave between 1800-2030. With only three Baron routes currently; the rest are PC-12 routes. One Baron route departs at 0400 and returns about 1100 Tue - Sat. This is handled by the same pilot each week unless he takes vacation or gets sick.

We are off on weekends. It is not uncommon to have one day, Mon-Fri, where you are not on the schedule. They ask that you do not plan a family vacation out of town that day, unless you take a vacation day. If they do call and ask you to fly a trip that evening and you are not scheduled as the standby pilot, you are compensated. If they are going to call in someone other than the designated standby pilot, this will usually happen by late afternoon at the latest. Pilots are free to swap routes, standby, off-days as we please. We simply coordinate between ourselves and then fire off a simple email to our supervisor.

At about 1500 we receive an email confirming what route we are flying that evening, what aircraft we will fly, and any changes/concerns we need to be aware of. I usually take a moment to glance at the weather/NOTAMs to be sure the daytime supervisors did not miss something important that could affect us leaving on-time or making it to any of the airports on my route. Significant weather events, TFRs, closures will often have already been addressed and someone will contact you with an alternate plan of action.

I usually arrive at the airport about an hour before my scheduled departure. We have an office and heated hangar. I preflight my aircraft, check for squawks that have not been addressed (very rare), get paperwork. The aircraft squawk sheet will have a signature and date whom/when a mechanic last performed a thorough post-flight inspection and indicates whether any oil was added to an engine. I make a final check of weather and NOTAMs, then check-in with our dispatch.

Usually I depart about 10 min. before my scheduled departure time to give myself the best chance of staying on/ahead of schedule. Each stop varies, but normally you do not have to wait more than 30 min., if at all. Almost all the controllers know our routine and have our outbound clearance ready for us when we land (I've received my outbound while still 45 miles from arrival). At a stop, you may take off a few empty bags for the driver, then you will either drop specimens with the driver, receive specimens, or even both. The most important part is counting and verifying the paperwork they give you matches what you are receiving. Then having the driver sign for anything you are giving them.

A night can obviously vary greatly depending on the weather. I have shot 5 approaches, held for 30 min., circled to land, and diverted all in one night. We do our best to plan ahead and divert to other airports before we even takeoff. The other night I departed and half-way into the flight, my destination and everything in the area dropped to 1/8sm visibility (forecast was calling for the weather to be 4sm and OVC008). I simply diverted home to Atlanta and the specimens were put on another flight that was diverting as close as possible to my original destination.

Quest is looking for good decision makers. Recognizing when things are stacking up against you and making the right call to shift the odds back into your favor. This requires planning, self-awareness, knowledge, communication, and probably other important factors you can think of. We are a team and despite being single-pilot, we communicate often. It is not uncommon to call each other throughout the night with questions or to coordinate. Dispatch also does an outstanding job of monitoring all the flights nationwide. Last year we had an aircraft depart home base and experience a maintenance issue shortly after. Dispatch recognized he was turning around (without any notification) and made the necessary calls to have another aircraft staged before he even landed.

Most of our flights return home to LZU around 0030. We have one Baron that returns at 0230 and a PC-12 that returns around 0330. 0030 at LZU is a busy time! We transfer bags to a northbound flight (RDG based); he is usually packed full from front to back. Post-flight our aircraft. Then a pilot or two usually assist in helping line service put the aircraft back in the hangar after they are fueled. Most nights we will usually hang out with each other yapping and gossiping for a few minutes before going home.

This routine repeats each day with surprises occasionally thrown in.

Thanks ! Great info!

Quest Diagnostics 2019
 

Quest has a captain opening at our Reading, PA (KRDG) base near Philadelphia. Most likely starting on the Baron then attending FlightSafety for the PC-12 ASAP. Please PM me with a résumé or questions if interested or visit our Facebook page “Quest Air”.

Starting pay $90,000/yr; annual bonus with a target of 10%; start with 3 weeks of vacation. Weekends and holidays off.

This base also operates the Phenom 100. If you are Phenom 100 typed, that is a huge plus!

To be competitive you will need the following experience:

Total time: 2000+ hrs
Turbine PIC / SIC: 500+ hrs
Winter weather flying experience
Experience navigating thunderstorms
Part 135 / Part 121 experience


https://www.facebook.com/18775241458...8801051018922/

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Applied! Thanks for the info.

Applied? You were our resident Quest contact for awhile. lol.

I assume you left and now applying for a better position than what you had?

I told him airline pilots should not be awake this late.


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No. I was just joking. Great job though and a great opportunity.

Just curious, when it comes to hiring pilots do you tend to shy away from the high time, experienced 135, 121 folks?

Not at all; that's the majority of our captains. The minimums we post are just a gauge.

O.K. thanks for the quick reply, appreciate it.

What aircraft operate out of MKC? How many runs are there?

Currently, only two Phenom 100 routes are operated by the MKC base.


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Thanks for the info.

RDG
 

What aircraft are based in RDG? Do you have an idea of the RDG-based nightly schedule?

Do they only hire typed guys in the Phenom?

Usually, yes. However, if it's taking them a long time to find someone, they will look for people with single pilot jet time in a citation or similar.

It's hard to get a training slot for the phenom.

RDG operates the PC-12, BE-58 Baron, and Phenom 100.

There are four routes + a Saturday evening route.

During the week the flights leave btw 1830 - 2300 and return about 0430.

The Saturday route depart 1630 and returns about 2230. Normally you are not assigned the Saturday route more than once a month and are given Friday night off.

There is only one Phenom route out of RDG, leave RDG 2330 with a land in MKC about 0430 and layover. Then returning the next morning 0400 dep and land RDG 1130. As Twebb said, normally they hire someone already typed or internally promote into the Phenom.

Does the PC-12 fly fewer but longer legs then the BE-58, also do you fly into and out of towered controlled airports?

I would say aircraft assignment is more weight and/or volume based. No legs are awfully long. I believe our longest leg in the system is FXE-LZU in the PC-12 at ~2.2 hrs. We do fly out of some uncontrolled airports, only a few have no FBO service at our hours. However, if for any reason we need to go to an airport with more services we do not hesitate to change plans.

Sorry it has been a while since I have updated everyone. My wife and I just welcomed our second little guy into this world on Valentine's Day!

It appears we have filled both openings at KLZU. Wow, what a response we had; I feel under-qualified after some of the resumes we received! :)

We have one opening left in RDG. You still have time to go enjoy some ice/snow before it ends!

Also we have a maintenance technician position being added at KLZU.

If you have questions or would like to share your resume, send me a PM or go to our Facebook page "Quest Air" and send us a PM.

Congratulations on the birth of your second child!

Curious is you have any info on when an FO spot at LZU will be opening? Finishing up my survey season in May and will be looking for a job back at home.

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Uncertain right now. PM me your résumé though.


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Congrats on the new first officer in the family, are you still looking for someone for RDG?

Just a captain for RDG.


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Fo
 

Any insights on when Quest will open up for FO positions? A pc12 guy I spoke to on the ground when loading on a run said you guy are looking for people.