Oversleep!

 

Yeah, great advice. Pass up an airline that's still upgrading guys/gals in less than a year and where pilots with 3-5 years there are still going directly to jobs at places like Virgin America, Hawaiian, Alaska, Spirit, and recently places like Delta, Southwest, and Allegiant when they were hiring (and yes, all without having a daddy in the training dept.), and not to mention XO jet, and many other corporate/fractionals/135's, as well as Omni, Kalitta, and other cargo and ACMI outfits. Yeah, sleep through the interview, because who knows, after 5 or 6 years at Skywest you could be upgrading in a shiny CRJ.

Looks like you got missed by a day with any replies for last minute advice. Hope your interview went well. As I'm sure you saw, it was a pretty technical interview, If your scan was good during the pcatd or sim event (not sure what they use these days), if you knew your Jepps, and the aircraft your currently flying, and you went in there with a positive personality and you were yourself, I'm sure you're good.

Despite what many on this thread say, Lakes is really a great place to get your time. Does the pay suck? Absolutely, being an FO and especially first year is going to hurt. However if you take the first available upgrade ( which looks like its running under a year), then you are where most FO's are pay wise at places like Skywest, Republic, XJet, etc where you wouldn't upgrade until 2017 at the soonest.

Does quality of life suck? That really depends on your outlook. I had a blast there, the planes were fun, the other crew members were awesome, the overnights were generally a good time. But again, it wasn't all rosy, the regular jr. assigning( basically having to work on days off) stank, the minimum 10 days a month off on reserve wasn't fun, the constant irregular operations (pretty much not flying what your schedule for the month said you were going to fly) was occasionally stressful. But you get through it, get what you can from them ( a type rating or two, pic time, a check airman or instructor position), and quickly move on

In the end its all extremely valuable experience and definitely opens the door directly to much better opportunities, much faster than pretty much any CRJ/ERJ/ E-Jet outit.

 

319 is right. There's positives and negatives. The best thing to do is look at the positives and negatives and YOU make the determination as to whether or not you want it.

Those of us who made the move did it for our own reasons, whether it was base location, future possibilities, or maybe even it was the only thing available for us at that time. Nonetheless, we all made it work for us. We have a good group of people working here, as well as a good group of people who are determined to try and make things better (contract, training dept, pay, etc).

I hope your interview went well, and best of luck with your career.

 

Holy overreaction batman! You might notice I posted this after his interview was over, since he had no other response... The "Big grin" icon may have indicated to you that this was a joke? Guess a "sense of humor" is not a requirement at Lakes??

 

Sorry, no advice, but how'd it go man? (or ma'am )

 

Thanks for all the responses. The interview went well. I arrived about 45 minutes early the 9:30 interviewee was a no show. They were appreciative of my timing. There were two individuals from the company. One was an administrative and only went through my application and relevant paperwork and gave me the 20 question test.

The assistant chief pilot was the only person at the interview. He reviewed my logbooks while I was taking the test. During the interview it was very relaxed and professional. We discussed my work history and why and how I go into the flying industry with my Masters Degree and Business background and Army work history. All of my hours except for my turbine time have been in my own plane even my recent twin hours are in my 1966 Piper PA30 Twin Comanche. I am current in everything; (Single, Multi, Instrument, Night, Turbine) I hope that doesn't hurt me since Ive never become an instructor or anything. I decided after I my enlistment with the army was up in April that I wanted to continue my career flying professionally.

We then went over A Jeppessen Enroute chart with basic questions like what do they numbers mean in this quadrant. Minimum Enroute Altitude. What do the numbers mean at this airport. Rwy length.
Next was a ILS DME ARC Jeppessen Approach. More detailed with the approach asked how I would do the approach the quickest with no GPS and can not ask for radar vectors. Asked for DME intercept on specific radial. How to know when to go missed on VOR and ILS approach. Lots more questions on the approach. I think the oral questioning went well.

Next asked what questions I had and talked about which aircraft I preferred and the bases. Said with my hours at 1021 Total 235 Multi I would be eligible for upgrade to Captain in about 6 months. SO suggested that the Beech 1900 would be a quicker upgrade path since there are more aircraft.

Also said the company is hiring for the rest of the year and the training class the are interviewing for is October 1st. After all the mixed reviews I am very impressed with the company and their facilities at Denver. I understand that this is a small airline and the pay is very low for 1st year First Officer. But we all also know especially with the new law to be a First Officer need ATP and 1500 hours that all of us pilots that are stuck around 1000 hours that used to be enough to get a good job now desperately need the hours and their is no better or quicker way to get the time than gaining valuable twin turbine time. I would much rather work for low pay and bad hours than go spend another 7k on flight training for all my CFI ratings then go instruct for no money in a single engine plane instructing. Just my view.

I am anxiously awaiting the phone call. They said a no would get an email and a yes would get a personal phone call from him. Hope to be starting class on Oct 1 and look forward to the opportunity to work for Great Lakes or any other professional organization.

Hope this answers everyone's questions. There were a total of 5 interviews and one didn't show up. I only talked to one other pilot and he had around the same time as I did just not as much twin and no turbine time.

 

Wow. Somebody building time the right way, instead of buying experience. Keep this up, and maybe pay at your first gig willn't be so horrendous.

 

Bscalis,

I got the phone call a few years back but chose not to take the position. My interview experience was very similar to yours, and I understood the expectations. I talked to current and former Lakes pilots, and I think it would have been a great group and incredible flying. If I lived out west in/near one of the bases, I probably would have taken it, but because I would have had to commute, I passed due to family constraints at the time. I don't think Lakes is a bad move for someone going in with their eyes open. The pay isn't great, but you aren't paying for training, and the flying will really hone your skills!

Good luck, and blue skies!

 

I say this as a GLA alum. Why would you go to Lakes right now? We are on the verge of a massive hiring boom, where companies like SkyWest, ExpressJet, and Republic will have massive hiring due to attrition, and dropping upgrade times. Why go to Lakes and endure their low pay and non-existent QOL when you could come to a premier regional and have the same end result in the same time frame? Serious question.

 

You must not realize that some of those places you mentioned and others (Jetblue, Spirit, Airways, Virgin, etc.) have recently hired RJ FO's with 0 turbine PIC time. No upgrade is required!