I have been very slow with flying during the last 1 1/2 years due to family and personal reasons so I was wondering if anyone could help me get back on track with help on a few questions?

For all of you who have or are right now, Im just wondering how you went about getting ready to......

1. Choose the regional you want to fly for. What did you base it on? Pay, base, your hours, equipment type. Would you pick a regional because you could drive to base and not have to fly?

2. Prepare and send out you resume. Did you use any guides, websites, companies ect... to help.

3. Get ready for the interview (Ive been reading aviationinterviews.com) and prepare for each part of
-The HR part
-The Tech part (jepps, systems ect...) best way to study jepps?
-The Sim part (get flying and do procedures or flightsim....)

4. Get ready for ground school. What to expect and how to get ready. Go in with a clear mind or read up some before hand? What did you guys do? If you studied before hand what did you study and where did you get it?

5. What was IOE, and reserve like?

Thanks for any information. If you can only answer a few thats fine!

 

1.) pick a regional based on work rules and base. The pay is pretty much the same at most. Some are better than others. If you can avoid commuting, do it..i'm a commuter, and it really isn't nice/fun at all.

2.) APC has a good resume video, and you can find tutorials online everywhere. I used APCs resume builder.

3.) There are a few books you can get "Questions and Answers" is a pamphlet looking thing with a UPS 74 on the cover. "Ace the techincal pilot interview" is another. and gouges gouges gouges..go to www.aviationinterviews.com for whatever airline you're going to interview with.
-HR you can't really study for, answer honestly, but not stupidly is the best way i can put it. They can tell when you're being less than genuine.
-The tech part, know your most complex airplane systems well. If you have 1 hour in a C310 and 100 hours in a PA44..then they're not expecting you to be a whiz at the 310..but know the systems/procedures for the PA44. Know the jepps well..read over the "introduction" in the front that goes over what all the "symbology" means. Also, the Instrument Pilot Handbook (FAA or Jepp version) is helpful.
-The Sim part is difficult to study for, unless you want to go to one of those prep courses. If you have access to a PCATD or Frasca, your best bet is to fly the standard profile(s) that you find on aviationinterviews.com for the airline you're interviewing with. If you can at least have an idea of what to expect (hold entry, approach quirks, etc) then you're better prepared. They're not looking for perfect technique when you fly an airplane you've never flown before / a jet that you have no experience with. They're looking at your procedures and decision making.

4.)Ground school really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. DO NOT learn too much if you're given checklists/procedure manuals before training. It's best maybe to just skim it, but the airline is going to teach you what they want you to know, and HOW they want you to do things. If you start connecting your own dots, you may be setting yourself up for trouble down the road if the airline teaches you differently.

If they do give you stuff, maybe breeze over systems, company policies..get the easy stuff out of the way, but only if it's stuff the company gives you..if it's third party stuff from another airline..i wouldn't go to deep at all.

When i went through, i got some company training manuals from a friend who went through it a few years before, some of it was dated so i didn't do too much..but i breezed through the systems manual, and i found it helped a little bit, cause i had seen it before when we went though that stuff during systems class. (Cockpit familiarization might not be a bad idea..so you're not fumbling around looking for stuff. I knew what most of the buttons did (not necessarily understanding) and where they were)

A clear mind is the best bet, keep yourself motivated throughout groundschool, with an eye towards the light at the end of the tunnel.

5.) Worry about IOE and reserve later, one step at a time is the best way to approach groundschool/sims. If you over extend yourself to prepare for something 3 steps ahead, you're gonna be in trouble. Study what they tell you and when they tell you to do it. I'm not saying don't get ahead, but not too far. The only thing i'd really recommend doing right off the bat is memorizing memory items/limitations. If you can go over those once a night, for the 4 weeks or so (whatever it is) before that particular test, you're gonna be sitting pretty while everyone else in your class is up till 4 am stressing over the 100% required grade.


IOE is fun, great captains (at least at comair)..the first flight is unreal.

Reserve sucks, but it's part of the game. That's all i'm gonna say

Good luck, PM me if you need anything else..my limited experience may be somewhat useful

 

Andy covered it well, but I'd add that on 1) you need to decide what's more important for you...geography, QOL, pay, etc. The perfect regional will have decent pay, REALLY good work rules, a junior base where you want to live, and a fast upgrade. In a perfect world, your regional would not have any impending labor or code-share contract issues on the horizon. Are you going to get all of that? No, unless you are extremely lucky. Decide what your priorities are, then look at what regionals come close.

If you have kids, try not to commute.

Equipment is not too important, but glass/turbojet time will probably be helpful when you apply to major airlines. It's OK to start on whatever equipment they offer, but it would be nice to have the opportunity to fly the jet eventually.

Also expect hiring to get tighter...I think most regionals will start being more selective, so the pulse-check interview might be a thing of the past. It is normal for airline to hire 20-50% of interviewees, so have a backup plan if the first one doesn't work out.

 

Andy and Rickair...thank you both very much for all the insight and information! As for choosing which one to apply for I have a few in mind, however moving is not a option for me right now and the base I could drive to (130 miles round trip) the regional has no work rules, no union, and low pay (I know they are all low but this one is one of the lowest), but does have a fast upgrade time. The other I was thinking about has decent working rules, a union, decent pay, and I have worked for them for several years and know most aspects of the company...however it would mean commuting. I do have a wife and one child so that would be tough. Its a tough call, but I have talked it over with my wife and family and they all will support my choice.

 

The only thing I can add to the above posts, is that you should also consider the fact that the industry is now in a bit of a downturn...so, with that in mind, I would recomend chosing an airline where you can weather the storm, and there by be ok for the next 4 to 6 years.

There's this myth right now among many of the young pilots getting into the industry that as soon as you get your "magic" 1000, you're gone.....not so much, so while upgrade is important; stability, QOL, domiciles, pay rates and soft money, should also be factors in your descision.

 

Definitely pick an airline with stability. Bond is exactly right, you have to go in with the mindset of.."if i'm stuck here for 5+ years, will i enjoy life..or want to jump without a parachute?"

I know a ton of guys that went over to Mesa, yeah they got a quick upgrade..but their lives have been M I S E R A B L E. QOL should weigh more than pay/upgrade time.

Best o' luck

 

Hi Jamin...to add to the good advice already posted:

1. I chose CHQ mainly for quality of life...got a lot of info on that from some buddies of mine that already worked here, and from the good people here and a few other forums. At first base was important to me, but then I figured what will that matter if I'm never home and have to commute. So I figured I can move and explore the country, as long as I live in base...that was my first rule. By the time I applied I had over double the mins most places, so I looked at the top two regionals in terms of QOL at the time, which were RAH and Skywest. I didn't want to move so far away from friends and family in FL, so I chose the easternmost of those two. Commute if you have to, but move in base and life is much better. Look at pay, particularly after a year or two, and talk to current pilots about work rules. Upgrade times should be a factor, but not the deciding one IMO.

2. Most regionals have an online application process...or if you know someone at the company, you could probably have them walk in your info...though despite the hiring slowdown, this probably isnt necessary. I applied online, was called the next day for an interview. Check out alot of the useful info here on the main page for preparing the resume content.

3. I used the same website you are, and had some friends who had just gone through the interview process a few weeks earlier. With the info from those two places, I felt very well prepared for the interview, and it went exactly the way I thought it would. I made a massive list of written test, HR, and technical oral questions compiled from those two sources, and put together answers for all of them, then ran through them all with my wife...that made me a little less stressed out when interview time came, though of course there were some unexpected questions in the actual interview. I studied the ATP oral exam guide from cover to cover, refreshed myself on the systems of the aircraft I was teaching in, reviewed Part 121 in the FARs, and studied alot of basic aviation math, rules of thumb, etc. Best way to study jepps...look through the intro...everything in the Jepps is right there. Also check out http://www.jeppesen.com/wlcs/index.j...tions_aopa.jsp.

For the sim, I knew several of the profiles they might make me do, so I ran through them on flight sim several times per day (and believe it or not it helped).

Also...VERY IMPORTANT: make sure you have all the required paperwork, with several copies of each item they want. Passport, FCC license, driving record, etc. etc.

4. Honestly the only thing I did prior to ground school was enjoy my last weeks as a CFI in Florida, go to the beach one last time, etc, before I took the next step. They will provide you with all the study material in ground school, and then its time to bare down and study hard.

5. IOE...I couldn't sleep at all the night before...part of it was knowing my very first flight was going to be out of LGA...which scared the heck out of me Just be open to criticism, and be on your toes. Your mind will still be back at the gate when you're landing at your destination on that first flight. The IOE capt was a great guy, and I learned alot. By the end of the trip, everything will seem to be making more sense. Reserve is not as bad as alot of people make it out to be, depending on who you fly for. If you live in base, it's a pretty good deal...you may get a few extra days off out of it if they dont call you, though you're stuck at home on those days...which is why I can make such a long post If you don't live in base, reserve is terrible....it's tough to get home. Also, while on reserve, I've done trips from each of our bases, which is nice since you get to see how each base operates, and the quality of the trips throughout the system. Good luck.

 

Thanks so much everyone! Those are some really great thoughts! I hope that I can get myself back into it and land a flight job soon. My only consern is that by the time Im ready to go were going to be at the bottom of the wave again for hiring, but only time will tell.

You all have any thoughts on these.....
American Eagle...commuting (10 direct flights a day to ORD from home)
Piedmont...commuting (6-8 direct flights a day to LGA from home)
TSA...commuting (have to fly thru XXX city to STL)
Colgan...driving (for now, they might be closing bases) then commuting

Just wondering......if any of you commute how is it?

 

Commuting sucks. If you're going to do it I'd highly suggest not even considering a two leg commute. Another thing that could be important is a commuter clause. Some airlines allow you to basically get a "free pass" if you list and are unable to make it to domicile prior to check in.

 

I figured commuting would suck really bad, but is it worth commuting to stay away from a regional that only has being able to drive to work working for them right now as I see it. Colgan seems to be on a rocky road right now and very unstable, and with the gas prices the way they are thats going to cut huge into my take home (130miles round trip) I figure with my car getting 30miles to the gallon thats about 4.3 gallons round trip, times 3.50 a gallon is about $15.00 a day in gas times say 17 working days...grand total is....255.00 a month gone from driving which I might not be able to afford. That sucks. It would be free to fly to ORD and go to work but on that note with 3 weeks vacation that I have at Eagle now I am figuring (on avg) at least half a day to get to work and half a day to get back home, so one day a week traveling that would mean about 49-50 days a year extra away from home and the cost of a crash pad. Its a tough call and a lot to think about! Anyone know what a crash pad goes for in ORD? What are you paying for one, anywhere?