I have immediate availability and received a Day 1 invite. Stats:

Former A-10 IP/EP
~2350 TT (unadjusted)
~1400 TPIC
~550 hrs 121 (Current CRJ FO)

I know I'm low time overall and I left the USAF non-current. Been at a regional for one year now. I hope to move on soon so you bet I'll be there on Day 1 with my best happy face on!

Cheers!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I'll be on the ground less than 24 hours and traveling from the east coast as well. Anybody interested in getting together for a Wednesday night beer?

 

I have a day 1 invite. ~5500 TT 1400 TPIC, available in 2 weeks and current regional CA. Multiple previous job fairs, meet n' greet, several internals.

Im not sure what criteria was used but I'm looking forward to it.

 

Consensus from day 1 AM group was that this is a replacement for future WAI OBAP NGPS type events. They also didn't want it to be a fastest finger and internet gets the ticket type show.

Not having 100 hrs in the last 12 months in something more complex than a 172 will be very hard to overcome. Crew type experiences preferred.

Day 1 attendees generally all given feedback "we like you but...". Most either had a currency, TPIC, or low TT flaw that the recruiter wanted improved.

Stressed repeatedly that they are hiring leaders that also happen to be quality aviators.

Bill's team pulls the top 30 algorithm scored applicants from their 11000 app pool every week. Top 30 are reviewed by a human and Hogan invites sent on Friday. They alluded to another applicant pool number but quickly retracted and said they weren't going to talk about that. 4 rec letters is the min to earn points.

Everyone that is there seems to love it. Strong veteran presence in the company. Speech by Captain Dennis Tate was entertaining.

 

Here's a summary of the notes I took at Day 1. Almost all is from Bill Kennedy's brief and the Q&A session afterward (which was awesome...hat's off to Mr. Kennedy for trying to be as direct and forthcoming as possible without giving away the family secrets).

- avg is currently 5,300 total hours. A short time ago it was 5,500. But that doesn't mean you aren't getting called just because you don't have 5,000+ hrs.

- they use an algorithm to ensure an objective candidate ranking. Every time they want to send Hogans they re-calculate and (currently) send to the top ~30 candidates. However, once those 30 names are identified they put eyes on the application as a final QC/sanity check.

- some items have fixed point values for the algorithm (i.e. bachelor's degree). Some items are stair-stepped on point values (i.e. flight hours). Mr. Kennedy didn't go into specifics beyond that.

- United has one of the largest book orders of new aircraft

- United estimates needing 11,147 pilots over the next 20 years.

- Approx 11,000 apps in their system, of which anywhere from 200-600 at a time are older than 180 days since last update and therefore ignored by the algorithm that ranks them.

- Drone time not considered by United or the FAA; don't even include it.

- Rotary wing time not currently considered but they are looking at this issue and there may be changes to the policy in the future (no timeline given).

- If medical is more than one year old on the app, the system skips over that app.

- 4 LORs minimum to get max points. They care more about the LORs discussing ethics, integrity, and leadership than what a great pilot you are.

- Go "full disclosure" with your flying history, to include UPT phase check ride busts.

- Mil conversion add on to flight hours is "baked in" to the algorithm, so only input raw time.

- Currently forecast to hire 630 next year. Obvious caveat that that number can change.

- Looking at a different model for recruiting. Good chance that 2017 will be last year that United attends the "big 3" conferences.

- They aren't worried about your flying skill. They hire future captains and want honest, humble, truthful, personable people.

My personal take on the event:
Very well done - especially considering this was the first event like this - by a great team that obviously cares about United and cares about military veterans. It was very informative and, to me, well worth the trip out there.

 

Wow! Thanks for the great feedback, gents. Excellent info. It sounds like getting the invite was a pretty big deal - congrats and good luck.

 

630 hires for 2017... that's a new/lower figure - any info on this?

 

He said only 630, United is watching the economy very close. They do not want to overextend and need to furlough down the road.

 

Ah. Nothing quite like the specter of a possible trade war or two to spice things up

 

It all depends.

Personally, I'd love a trade war with Qatar and UAE.