jwatts10

So I applied for the cadet program early this year. I would say around March. Republic visited my school (Liberty University) and they explained the program and benefits of the program very well. The overall application process from start to finish probably took 3 weeks to a month. First, get a quality airline style resume so the staff can quickly see where your at.

They will do one or two HR interviews over the phone and then they will do a facetime/skype interview with you
with a pilot and HR person. This is where the pilot gets to experience the vibe you give off and if they want you sitting in the pilot seat or not next to them. He will go over a METAR and Jep Instrument chart with you to see how you explain the chart and he will ask you some off the wall questions. These questions should not be obsessed over or worried about. He or she is looking to see your thought process and how you got to the answer you gave him. As long as you answer the question with thought, there should not be any reason why you dont pass the interview. Remember, be calm and take what he says well. He is also looking at how you take advice and what you do with it.

Some things I can recommend for you in the application process is to study and completely understand Jep Instrument Charts, not the standard FAA ones. Also, your going to want to be up on your knowledge because there is a written test at the end that will not tell you how you have done after its taken.

I think Republic is going in the right direction and will be a premier airline in the future now that it has shed its bad planes.

jwatts10

Hey StartUp,

I had around 120 hours and had my private and instrument licenses. The offer I got is good forever within reason...as in 1-4 years I would say because people build hours differently and when they hit that magic number of 1000-1250-1500 hours depending on their education.

All that was mentioned was a logbook check and HR paperwork before they pick a class for you. They usually email you once a month or less to get an update on how many hours you have. I havent been asked to do any training but they did send the ERJ175 study guide to get a leg up on the training.

StartUp161WanaB

^^

Glad to hear your experience with Republic. I should that my friend to apply, he doesn't have his commercial yet and they still do the interview.

GeneralPilot

So whats the general run down of this Cadet Program. What makes it so special or what sets it apart from other cadet programs?

Bjackson

I had my interview yesterday for their cadet program and like everyone else has said it's pretty laid back and straight forward. The only thing I think that may have caused me not to get it is the test afterwards. So making sure you have been brushing up on some ATP questions would be suggestion I would offer. They said I would know by Friday if I got accepted or not, so now it's a waiting game.

hockeypilot44

What's a bad plane? Republic is a regional. Republic is a first airline job or starting point. It will never be a premier airline. A premier airline is Delta, United, American, etc. You have a lot to learn. Good luck with your career.

A.FLOOR

Unlike the AA WO that make you sign your life away, with Republic's you reserve the right to leave at any point. While you don't get some of the same direct benefits as the others, you also have nothing to loose. In essence, you get to see the company internally and sample the company culture. They'll invite you to fun company events and introduce you to many aspects of the industry and specifically the airline. I enjoyed being apart of it, and it was nice knowing that if I didn't want to stay, I could go anywhere at anytime.

itsmytime

What type of contract do the WO's make you sign?

Tigflt17

From the time you sign, to one year as an FO. $5,000 to get out of it

brocklee9000

Simply my own experience, but here's the rundown:

Republic had been recruiting at my university for a while and signed some agreement, and now they come about 3 times a year. Announced they would be doing cadet interviews for any student with at least an IR. I was starting my commercial so I polished my resume and tried to read through gouges/forums and studied up. On that day in particular, only HR was there, no pilot. She gave me an iPad while looking over my resume and current transcripts (still had a few semesters left of school), where I took a short written. I hadn't taken an ATP written before, but they were neither the questions you'd see on ATP level writtens nor were they super basic. It's been a while so I don't remember the exact questions, but I want to say they were things like airspace, weather, IFR mins, etc. I think it just gave me 20 random questions from a bank, and I didn't see the results. She then conducted an oral HR evaluation, consisting of a mix of "tell me about you" questions as well as "tell me about a time..." Since there was no hiring pilot there that day, she had to do his side of the interview as well. She's not a pilot, but I guess had been doing interviews for enough years to know the general gist of the answers they look for, but just like with the written I got no real feedback or gauge of how well I did. Then she gave me some Republic info (E170 cockpit poster, cadet program overview, etc). I got an acceptance email the next day.

All in all, it was about 10% of the intensity I expected (i.e. I was expecting something closer to all the typical airline interviews I hear about). I don't know if it was watered down because they have some agreement with our part 141 school, so take it with a grain of salt. I even shaved and showed up in a suit, whereas most of the other people I saw interview that day were just wearing whatever. I basically got the feeling that, as long as my grades were good and I hadn't failed every checkride, I would have gotten the offer unless I just bombed the interview.

The cadet program has been neat. I'm done with school now but when I was still there, they'd take us out to dinner when the recruiters were in town. It offered an opportunity to meet with them more personally (i.e. not on company time and in uniform, so they tended to be more frank in discussion). I even was able to make it to a cadet event back in May. Bought me a ticket to IND, put us up in a hotel, took us to their HQ and played around with their GFS sims, and then we got to go to their suite at the speedway and see a practice day for Indy 500.

I won't lie, initially I was just keeping the offer as a fallback, and to take advantage of the perks they were offering. She mentioned in the interview that anyone who makes it into the cadet program doesn't have to interview again (i.e. do the "real" interview), so it was a nice ace in the hole. No commitment like some of the other regionals sucker you into (as has been mentioned). Now, I'm looking more critically. There are really only two or three regionals I'm looking at and Republic is definitely one of them. They offer a pretty nice signing bonus, there's the Flight Time Initiative if you need that, and then all the other plusses (own their planes, common fleet type, proven record, big and reliable company, etc). As I accrue my hours over the next year, I'm just keeping a close eye on everything, but based on the status of the industry right now, it's either SkyWest if my wife and I want to stay out west, or Republic if we move east.