RPM
Well-Known Member
American Eagle flew me out to Dallas the day before the interview 1st class on American. Arrived in Dallas, shuttle to Baymont Hotel ($45 a night, Eagle rate) Eagle pays for the hotel on the second night if you pass interview day 1.
Day 1- shuttle to American headquarters at 7AM. There were 7 of us in the beginning. Arrived at headquarters....headquarters are 1st rate, second to none, huge facilities, extremely large and easy to get lost in. Extremely nice full service cafeteria for lunch/breakfast etc...
First thing- company presentation by one of the Captains, very pleasant...he puts you at ease, tells some jokes to break thge ice, overview of what the interview process would be like, then a video about Eagle. There are 4 stages to day 1. 1) ATP written. 2) Technical interview. 3) HR interview. 4)Sim eval.
Everyone goes through stage 1-3....then if you didn't pass on of those you will NOT be sent to the sim eval, no exceptions. They don't want to waste $500 bucks on you in the full motion sim if they aren't going to hire you.
Next- ATP 50 question written exam, 80% required to pass.... pretty much out of the ATP Gleim book, there were a few questions I havn't seen before that were not out of the book(no figures or refer to questions) We all got a different version of the test so no cheating. My test had questions from all over...GPS, 121 regs, holding, weather, jet stream, IFR equip, RNAV, aerodynamics, turbine stuff...compresser stalls etc. etc...
STUDY the ATP book and you will be fine, I was confident on the test... a couple others did not do well because they didn't prepare. Eagle does not care if you have 8,000 hours turbine PIC and an ATP rating, if you fail the written your gone. Happened to 2 experienced people from my group.
Next- Tech interview.
Covered RVR, RVR, RVR! Know it WELL! Know adequate visual req. with CL/RCLM etc... / Given weather conditions, RVR range in San Diego...asked if we could depart, if we could depart what was required, what did we need to know. What if RVR was 6-6-5? Could we still go and why/why not? What if 6-Missing-6? 8-8-5 RVR could we go? and various other scenarios. Know it all. READ the airport chart...most of the info is right in front of you...Study JEPP intro about RVR if you are not familiar with it, I had never used RVR before. DO we need take-off alternate? What are alternate req.? Landing alternate req? Various 121 alternate questions. Given departure out of San .... I believe (pebble 3) but could be wrong. Finger fly departure...READ ALL NOTES so you don't miss anything. Enroute chart questions, lost comm, Arrival questions, Airport Diagram at LAX...know what EVERYTHING is, know all symbology. Basically, be able to go from start to finish on an IFR flight with bad weather and lost comms and talk through the entire thing. Some people got Dallas charts, Some got San Diego, some Boston...so don't focus on any particular airport. Above mins outside Final app. fix, cross final app. fix...weather drops to below mins, can you continue, why/why not? What do you need to look for, runway covered in snow, rnwy remaining-signs,lights?
We then chatted for a while, talked about Eagle, talked about long upgrade time. Everyone seems to say the same thing about the upgrade times coming down. Eagle has about 60 Saab 340's parked in the desert that they own and are paid for. They are trying to bring them back into service on short routes but don't have the ability to staff them right now. Also the 400 flowbacks from American are leaving...If they refuse to leave they will be FORCED to give up their senority and move into an F/O spot with F/O pay at Eagle...not many people willing to do that so they will pretty much all be leaving.
Stage 3- HR
Basic HR questions...Why Eagle, Why you, What are your bad qualities, Change in lifestyle, how will you handle it? Qualities you would look for in a f/o? Asked about 8-10 questions...few backround questions.... talked for a little while...talked about how some of the applicants don't come prepared and how Eagle will not lower their standards no matter how desperate they get for pilots.
At this point, 2 of the applicants were removed from the group and told to gather their things.
stage 4-
The remaining 5 of us were sent to the Sim. We used the Saab 340 full motion sim. Bill was our sim instructor and gave an EXCELLENT briefing on the flight...probably lasted an hour for the briefing. Bill is an AMAZING guy...couldn't ask for a better guy to do the Sim ride with. The sim was intimidating as hell for me...I had never used anything other than microsoft flight sim before and this was a HUGE step up. Profile was- Takeoff LAX 24L, 80 knots Bill hands over the controls, call out V1, 120, rotate, gear up...500ft- yaw damper on, climb- 2,000 rnwy heading, climb checklist/climb power set, left turn, bug ALL heading changes, level off, cruise checklist/ set cruise power 200kts. ATC says expect hold, climb 3,000, Cleared direct SLI VOR/ asked if ready to copy hold instructions/ hand over controls to Bill, copy hold instructions, brief hold with correct entry, may or may not do hold, I did not have to, given a vector, expect ILS 24L LAX, decend and maintain 2,000- reduce speed 160kts. Decent checklist, power back to flight idle, flaps 15, set power 160, brief ILS 24L, Use flight director for 1st ILS approach, vector to intercept localizer, case break-gear down, 1 dot out flaps 25, speed 130kts, landing checklist. Bill calls out 1000ft, 500ft, minimums...go visual, maintain glideslope. There was an aircraft rolling onto the runway on mine, it was night IMC and very difficult to see the airplane, went missed, Max climb power set, gear up...sim was paused and reset to ILS 24 again, this time no flight director, land, landing not graded...thankfully, I bounced the crap out of it.
The sim is amazing...it is amazingly real! You cannot tell you are not in the real airplane...the controls are heavy but I thought it was very stable compared to that piece of crap microsoft sim...use BOTH hands, USE Bill as your non flying pilot, he will do whatever you tell him, but you HAVE to tell him if you want his help. He will fine tune power settings, do checklists, tune and ID, bug headings for you but you HAVE to tell him what to do, He will NOT just do it for you. Sim ride was a great exp... We all had a great time!!
Day 1 ended at 8:30 PM for me...very long day!!!
If you pass the sim, on to MEDICAL exam the next day. 5 in the group passed. Eagle took us back to the hotel and paid for the room for the night...everyones room was nicer than the first night.
Medical- 7AM again
Start fasting at 8pm the night before for blood work. Extensive medical, drug testing, paperwork, 2 pee tests, 3 viles of blood, fingerprinting, blood pressure sitting standing, laying down, hearing booth, ear pressurization, vision, eye puffer tests, probably a few things i'm forgetting....they sent us to Breakfast after the blood work. Lots of waiting around, finally full physical exam by Eagle Dr., EKG tests, more questions,more paperwork...took about 6-7 hours for the medical.
We were given a conditional offer of employment at that point. Then 1st class flight home.
You still have to Pass a Captains review board which meets on Friday's for the final approval.
Recieved Captains review board approval Friday afternoon, and given a class date in a couple weeks!!!
Looking forward to it! Everyone in my interview group was great, and I look forward to training with them! The Interview was GREAT compared to what I experienced before at another place. Eagle was very professional, and the Captains and HR people do their best to make you at ease. Overall it was a LONG process, about 19 hours at American headquarters, but everyone was great.:nana2:
Day 1- shuttle to American headquarters at 7AM. There were 7 of us in the beginning. Arrived at headquarters....headquarters are 1st rate, second to none, huge facilities, extremely large and easy to get lost in. Extremely nice full service cafeteria for lunch/breakfast etc...
First thing- company presentation by one of the Captains, very pleasant...he puts you at ease, tells some jokes to break thge ice, overview of what the interview process would be like, then a video about Eagle. There are 4 stages to day 1. 1) ATP written. 2) Technical interview. 3) HR interview. 4)Sim eval.
Everyone goes through stage 1-3....then if you didn't pass on of those you will NOT be sent to the sim eval, no exceptions. They don't want to waste $500 bucks on you in the full motion sim if they aren't going to hire you.
Next- ATP 50 question written exam, 80% required to pass.... pretty much out of the ATP Gleim book, there were a few questions I havn't seen before that were not out of the book(no figures or refer to questions) We all got a different version of the test so no cheating. My test had questions from all over...GPS, 121 regs, holding, weather, jet stream, IFR equip, RNAV, aerodynamics, turbine stuff...compresser stalls etc. etc...
STUDY the ATP book and you will be fine, I was confident on the test... a couple others did not do well because they didn't prepare. Eagle does not care if you have 8,000 hours turbine PIC and an ATP rating, if you fail the written your gone. Happened to 2 experienced people from my group.
Next- Tech interview.
Covered RVR, RVR, RVR! Know it WELL! Know adequate visual req. with CL/RCLM etc... / Given weather conditions, RVR range in San Diego...asked if we could depart, if we could depart what was required, what did we need to know. What if RVR was 6-6-5? Could we still go and why/why not? What if 6-Missing-6? 8-8-5 RVR could we go? and various other scenarios. Know it all. READ the airport chart...most of the info is right in front of you...Study JEPP intro about RVR if you are not familiar with it, I had never used RVR before. DO we need take-off alternate? What are alternate req.? Landing alternate req? Various 121 alternate questions. Given departure out of San .... I believe (pebble 3) but could be wrong. Finger fly departure...READ ALL NOTES so you don't miss anything. Enroute chart questions, lost comm, Arrival questions, Airport Diagram at LAX...know what EVERYTHING is, know all symbology. Basically, be able to go from start to finish on an IFR flight with bad weather and lost comms and talk through the entire thing. Some people got Dallas charts, Some got San Diego, some Boston...so don't focus on any particular airport. Above mins outside Final app. fix, cross final app. fix...weather drops to below mins, can you continue, why/why not? What do you need to look for, runway covered in snow, rnwy remaining-signs,lights?
We then chatted for a while, talked about Eagle, talked about long upgrade time. Everyone seems to say the same thing about the upgrade times coming down. Eagle has about 60 Saab 340's parked in the desert that they own and are paid for. They are trying to bring them back into service on short routes but don't have the ability to staff them right now. Also the 400 flowbacks from American are leaving...If they refuse to leave they will be FORCED to give up their senority and move into an F/O spot with F/O pay at Eagle...not many people willing to do that so they will pretty much all be leaving.
Stage 3- HR
Basic HR questions...Why Eagle, Why you, What are your bad qualities, Change in lifestyle, how will you handle it? Qualities you would look for in a f/o? Asked about 8-10 questions...few backround questions.... talked for a little while...talked about how some of the applicants don't come prepared and how Eagle will not lower their standards no matter how desperate they get for pilots.
At this point, 2 of the applicants were removed from the group and told to gather their things.
stage 4-
The remaining 5 of us were sent to the Sim. We used the Saab 340 full motion sim. Bill was our sim instructor and gave an EXCELLENT briefing on the flight...probably lasted an hour for the briefing. Bill is an AMAZING guy...couldn't ask for a better guy to do the Sim ride with. The sim was intimidating as hell for me...I had never used anything other than microsoft flight sim before and this was a HUGE step up. Profile was- Takeoff LAX 24L, 80 knots Bill hands over the controls, call out V1, 120, rotate, gear up...500ft- yaw damper on, climb- 2,000 rnwy heading, climb checklist/climb power set, left turn, bug ALL heading changes, level off, cruise checklist/ set cruise power 200kts. ATC says expect hold, climb 3,000, Cleared direct SLI VOR/ asked if ready to copy hold instructions/ hand over controls to Bill, copy hold instructions, brief hold with correct entry, may or may not do hold, I did not have to, given a vector, expect ILS 24L LAX, decend and maintain 2,000- reduce speed 160kts. Decent checklist, power back to flight idle, flaps 15, set power 160, brief ILS 24L, Use flight director for 1st ILS approach, vector to intercept localizer, case break-gear down, 1 dot out flaps 25, speed 130kts, landing checklist. Bill calls out 1000ft, 500ft, minimums...go visual, maintain glideslope. There was an aircraft rolling onto the runway on mine, it was night IMC and very difficult to see the airplane, went missed, Max climb power set, gear up...sim was paused and reset to ILS 24 again, this time no flight director, land, landing not graded...thankfully, I bounced the crap out of it.
The sim is amazing...it is amazingly real! You cannot tell you are not in the real airplane...the controls are heavy but I thought it was very stable compared to that piece of crap microsoft sim...use BOTH hands, USE Bill as your non flying pilot, he will do whatever you tell him, but you HAVE to tell him if you want his help. He will fine tune power settings, do checklists, tune and ID, bug headings for you but you HAVE to tell him what to do, He will NOT just do it for you. Sim ride was a great exp... We all had a great time!!
Day 1 ended at 8:30 PM for me...very long day!!!
If you pass the sim, on to MEDICAL exam the next day. 5 in the group passed. Eagle took us back to the hotel and paid for the room for the night...everyones room was nicer than the first night.
Medical- 7AM again
Start fasting at 8pm the night before for blood work. Extensive medical, drug testing, paperwork, 2 pee tests, 3 viles of blood, fingerprinting, blood pressure sitting standing, laying down, hearing booth, ear pressurization, vision, eye puffer tests, probably a few things i'm forgetting....they sent us to Breakfast after the blood work. Lots of waiting around, finally full physical exam by Eagle Dr., EKG tests, more questions,more paperwork...took about 6-7 hours for the medical.
We were given a conditional offer of employment at that point. Then 1st class flight home.
You still have to Pass a Captains review board which meets on Friday's for the final approval.
Recieved Captains review board approval Friday afternoon, and given a class date in a couple weeks!!!
Looking forward to it! Everyone in my interview group was great, and I look forward to training with them! The Interview was GREAT compared to what I experienced before at another place. Eagle was very professional, and the Captains and HR people do their best to make you at ease. Overall it was a LONG process, about 19 hours at American headquarters, but everyone was great.:nana2:
