How long?
 

How long was it before you got the call saying you were hired? I interviewed a week a go with pinnacle and still have not heard anything.

I heard in 3 days.

Still havent gotten a letter so I guess thats a good thing.

Maybe there are still trying to figure out whether to place new-hires in a pool or assign a class date... that place is such a clusterfu(k.

At XJT they make you wait like a whole minute and a half. When I interviewed with Pinnacle it seemed like you found out in a few days or you got a letter a week or two after.

Yeah, you stand in the hall at X jet until someone comes out and offers you a position. Its fun go try it.

Already tried it. They told me my 250hrs in a 310 were not enough complex time for what they were looking for. I laughed in her face.

XJT told you that? Or Pinnacle?:confused:

XJT told me that

That's an unusual statement for a regional to make in today's hiring climate.

They told me the same about my instrument time and lack of class B experience. I think what they are looking for is your reaction. I went into this whole "this is why you should hire me" schpeal and the interviewer just smiled and said "thanks, thats all I have".

I can't believe XJT would say 250HRs in a Cessna 310 wasn't enough. With that kind of time, I'm sure you could operate the E145 by yourself.

Yea I was prety shocked by it. I was really wanting to work for them. Looks like its back to square one and sending out more apps. btw has anybody interviewed with pinnacle this month?

Im pretty sure they make statements like that to judge your reaction. I think they want to see if you roll over and say "oh well, i guess not im not good enough" or do you stand up for yourself, show some backbone and tell the interviewer why they are wrong why they should hire you.

No I wasnt told that in the interview...I was told that after as she walked me down the hall to the front of the building.

Well, I dunno then. They pulled that on me and a few of the other guys I talked to. All you can do is go over the whole interview in your mind (you were taking notes, right?;)), figure out what went well and what you can improve on for next time. Good luck in the future.

hey freezing when did you go through training with xjt? just wondering if you can give me a heads up on exactly what to expect. i'm gona be in the class on either 11th or 18th of sept.

I finished up at the end of May and my memory is a little foggy but Ill do my best. If any XJetters out there have better info/corrections, feel free to chime in.

Training is real straight forward. You start with a week of basic indoc (exam on the last day), 2 days of CRM (no exam), then you get something like 4 weeks of systems (written exam at the end). It used to be that you started your FTDs during systems but I have heard rumors that they are changing that and you dont start the FTDs until you are done with systems. I believe it was 6 sessions in the FTD. Also, you do the oral portion of your checkride near the end of systems class before you move to the full motion sims. The schedule is pretty much M-F 0800-1700 with breaks every hour and a 1 hour lunch all through ground school. On days you do FTDs the schedule will change a little due to availability.

After you finish systems and the FTDs and the oral, you are off to the full-motion sims for 2 weeks of sim training. You will either do your sim training at the XJT training center in the in-house sims (good) or you will go to Flight Safety (bad) and use their sims with XJT instructors. Which you get is dependent on whats going on in the training department at the time. When you start sims, the schedule changes slightly due to sim availability. They run sims from 0600 until 0230. Seemed like they tried to keep it 4-5 on 2-3 off. There are 6 sim sessions and then your checkride.

After the sims, you go to IOE. How fast you get to IOE depends on whats going on in the training department. I had to wait like 2 days before getting my first IOE trip and then I waited for 1 week before the next one, then they came quick. You will probably do about 30 hours of IOE. I did a 4 day and then a couple short 2 days and then that was it.

Like everyone says, know the flows before you get there and keep practicing while you are in training. An hour or two every night goes a long way. Study the white binder. There were no memory items we were expected to know when we started. If you get a copy of the memory items from someone, make sure it is the most recent version of the memory items as they tend to change. And make sure you double check and find the answers yourself rather than just going on blind faith. Bit a couple of guys in my class. Make friends with your classmates, they are more than likely the only people you will hang out with for 8 weeks. Your roommate and your sim partner should be the same person, makes life much much easier. If there are flight attendants staying at the hotel while you are in training, make friends with them too. They will be bitchy at first since all of their instructors hate pilots and tell them to stay far far away from pilot scum but they will eventually warm up to you. They know we get a check when we start training so make sure they dont take advantage of that. Thats about all of the words of wisdom I can think of right now. If you have any specific questions or want some clarification feel free to PM me. Hope it all helps.

Here's a little advice.

Stow that attitude.

You haven't said what your logbook looks like. Most of us are proud of what we have accomplished and don't like it when someone seems to be dismissive of our time.

But the fact of the matter is brutally simple. Some folks come to the regionals with very little to prepare them for what is ahead. It's a real testament that so many manage to succeed...showing that attitude can trump experience.

Perhaps that one sentence isn't a true look into your personality. Let's hope so...otherwise you might find getting into and staying in the airline business to be a tough nut to crack.

I agree with shackone. My previous reply was sarcastic. I guess you didn't get it. 250 Hrs in a small twin doesn't mean squat. There is alot more that goes into hiring, like the above posted from shackone. I think personality and attitude are right on top. I also think past experience in a crew environment is also high on the list, as opposed to single pilot experience.

Thanks a bunch freezing. We were told a little bit in the introduction on interview day about what we were going to be going through in the training class, but not much. Right now I'm doing my best looking at the ERJ 145 study guide online, because we haven't got our training manuals yet. We go back to IAH on 08/30 to fill out the paperwork and get the manuals and we'll be told then whether we're in the 11th or the 18th class as well.
I'm really looking forward to starting training.
BTW, did you go through training with a girl called Lee? Friend of mine, I think she finished her training in May as well??

Glad I could help. Don't spend too much time or money on E145 study guides or manuals unless they are from the company. Each operator has different equipment setups and different ways of doing things so be careful looking at generic study guides for the E145. Believe me (and everyone else here for that matter) they will teach you what you they want you to know the way they want you to know it. Probably the best things you can study are swept wing aerodynamics, jet turbine theory and complex aircraft systems (depending on your background). As long as you go in with a solid foundation, you will have no trouble. And start studying those flows the minute you get that binder and poster home. If you can, try and spend at least a couple hours a day with them. Just keep a positive attitude and go in there with the mindset that you have A LOT to learn.

PS Nope, no girl named Lee in my class.

That's a point I have heard beore about being wary of 145 study guides because different companies can have varying flows/limitations etc. The one that I got a month's membership to is 145studyguide.com, there was a link there from the aviationinterviews.com website.
It SAYS that the information used in the study guide is from the ExpressJet operating guidelines. I don't know how they got that stuff but I guess I can trust it? At least it'll give me a guideline to the material before I get the folder.
I'm definately gona get up on my aerodynamics and turbine systems.
Looking forward very much to training, thanks again for your insight.

- I think Lee may have been in an April class...