flyingGuru

Hi all, just curious on what the average pay is for 1st year FOs?

Andy Dufresne

A pretty good rule of thumb for a conservative average is to take the hourly rate and add three zeroes to the end of it.

Some factors that affect that: Length of time on reserve, picking up open time, red pay offered by the company, etc.

Depending on those factors, you could expect anywhere from $45k to probably around $70k top end, give or take - if you’re hustling.

AR1978

I’ve got an interview scheduled for next Thursday and was wondering what the pass/fail rate of the interviews are?

I am an Air Force pilot that is retiring after 21 years and have about 3000 hours. I’ve done plenty of public speaking but have never done a formal interview. I’m currently going through aviationinterviews.com but the total amount of questions to review is around 500. I’ve spent most of my time so far getting all my paperwork in order (airlineapps, medical, passport, college transcripts, etc…) but not on interview prep and/or general knowledge of civilian aviation which would be covered in the technical question portion of the interview. I gave myself a week to prepare for that but am a little nervous that I did not give myself enough time given the 500 questions to go through.

I guess what I am asking is should I push the interview back a week to spend time getting more prepared or not. And if I did push it back would that look bad on my part.

Andy Dufresne

Just make sure you’re comfortable with FARs relating to IFR, briefing weather and approach plates, maybe a STAR, etc.

And make sure you’re easy to get along with. I can not stress this enough. I promise you they are weighing “is this guy going to be miserable to fly with” as much or more than knowledge. That’s not at all directed specifically at you - but wanted to make sure it was said. Smile and be friendly. They want you to relax. It’ll be a mostly laid back experience.

Good luck! Based on your being concerned about being underprepared, my guess is you’ll do great.

SoFloFlyer

First off, congrats on a long career and thank you for your service!

Secondly, Andy pretty much hit it on the head. RPA has a good culture and a pretty happy pilot group so personality is huge. Just be yourself and I’m sure you’ll do great!

The technical stuff is basic. IFR regs, METAR and TAF, when to file an alternate, and brief an approach plate. That kind of stuff.

I’m sure you’ll do great!

SEPfield

Thank you for this information. I currently meet the upgrade qualifications. Could you tell me;
If I joined as an FO and was awarded Captain while in training, would I need to complete FO OE and then return for Captain upgrade training?
What is the Junior Captain base?
Are Junior Captain reserves getting used?

I understand all this could change next week, I’m just gathering information to help make a potential decision.

Web265

I'm not in the training dept.. so I'm guessing here...

The way our system works, by the time you could bid for it and were senior enough to get the "award" it'd be 2/3 mos before that upgrade training would start anyway. So, it's likely you'd be finished IOE anyway.

Since we haven't hired DEC's, my guess is, yes, you'd be hired and trained as an FO, then bid for Capt while still in training or shortly thereafter. The awards are for several months out. For example, the vacancy list just came out for July. Training for those vacancies would begin in May. If memory serves you do two system bids while in training. The first is done on paper I think, you list the bases you like in order you'd like them for your first assignment. They award based on seniority (by birth date). Then when you are set up in our scheduling system they suggest you put in a standing bid for whatever you would like should you A) want something other than you were awarded or B) should happen to be displaced. When a vacancy announcement comes out, you bid through our system for base/seat if by the close date for that bid you're senior enough to get the award, and you met the required company/contractual requirements, theoretically, you should get it.

If you want definitive answers to the how on this, I'd call or e-mail a recruiter. Should be an e-mail address on the website.

LGA, BOS, EWR, DCA have the most openings in that vacancy announcement (in that order)
Yes
Yup
This is based on what I know about our current system, If someone from training is here, they might have more specifics for you.

SEPfield

That’s great information again. Thank you

FlyinCat

I’m a little surprised you aren’t going for a major or at least a LCC/ULCC? I think you have a good chance and pay is appreciably better there.

That said, I highly recommend you invest in interview prep. You may not need it and “winging it” may work out but for me it was worth every penny. If you read the interview debriefs most people are making it, but not everyone. We had a C-130 guy in my interview group that had never seen a Jepp plate and seemed surprised he had to read one for them- at least don’t be that guy. They are evaluating you from day one and I guarantee it won’t make a good impression if you are unprepared, even if you do get the offer.

LoneStar32

LCC/ULCCs are Majors. I doubt he can go directly to a Legacy even in this hiring market. Especially if it is not the right type of flying. However I would be applying to the ULCCs in addition to a few Regionals if I were him.