desertdog71
Girthy Member
I will start and say that at the time of writing this, I have not heard back whether or not they will offer me a class date. So it's factual and not leaning one way or another.
I filled out the application on their website and was called the following day to interview. I was surprised at the quick response, so I scheduled a full month later. They were very organized and informative about what emails I would receive and what was expected of me as far as paperwork goes. I was told they would provide space available travel to Indianapolis, and the hotel was on me.
Unlike some other carriers that I have encountered everything happened exactly as they said it would. My paperwork was sent promptly, follow up email with hotel and ground transportation info quickly followed. I was told point blank that flight information would be sent to me 24-48 hours prior to the interview and it was provided as promised about 72 hours ahead of time. At no point did I feel like things were in question or disorganized.
I found out that travel through ORD is positive space to and from the interview and I had no problems getting to IND from TUL. I arrived and used the provided transportation via Carey Limousine and was taken to the Embassy Suites about 20 miles away in a nice Town Car. The Embassy Suites was very nice and I only needed about 1/4 of the actual huge room I was given. The Republic rate was $65 for the night, with taxes its like $73. In the morning, complimentary made to order breakfast is provided. I also found a place called McAlisters Deli next door, and they had some of the best Broccoli Cheese soup I have had in a long time. There was also a few other places to eat, all within a short walk.
After breakfast we all met in the lobby and were shuttled over to Republic via Hotel Van. It's about 5-6 blocks if you need to walk it for some reason. Once at Republic, you check in on the third floor and stow your bags in a closet and then you are greeted by John in HR. He leads you to a large breakroom where you provide your logbooks, licenses, medicals, and FCC licenses for review.
You are then taken to another room for a presentation about the company. Nothing was off limits and you should ask questions. They talked about the past, future growth, the different certificates, the contract negotiations etc. Like I said, there was nothing off limits.
After the presentation and question session, you will be given a 20 question ATP type written test. You have 10 minutes to complete it. Most questions were Aerodynamics and Weather. Dutch Roll, Mach Tuck, Illusions when entering fog, what to do after TCAS RA maneuver. Nothing mystical.
Next is the Wonderlic, which is like a cross between the SAT and something Sheldon from Big Bang Theory would salivate over. It's basic problem solving and word comprehension. Score of 10 means you are literate, 21 means you are average. Under 10 you are Vince Young, 35 you are Aaron Rodgers. Blah Blah. I did 33 questions in the 12 minutes and I am dirty trucker. It was actually kind of fun to do.
Once that is done, you go over PRIA paperwork with the quirky PRIA lady, and if you have anything that needs to be corrected or added, you will be given that opportunity.
Next they take the folks with the earliest flight and get them to the SIM first. Of the group of 7, I had a late flight out, so I was held in the break room with 3 others guys, and 3 went to the SIM. There were two groups doing the HR/Tech interviews. One was John from the presentation with a line Captain. The other was a lady from HR (Hope) and an FO(Troy).
I was called in to speak with Hope and Troy. We got right into it with legal stuff. Are you OK with a training contract? OK with returning signing bonus if you bail in under a year? Are you instrument current? TMAA Capt. You had problems with? TMAA tough student? Why Republic? Why you? Why did you leave this carrier? What was the biggest sacrifice you made for aviation? What got you started or made you want to start into aviation?
Tech. Brief this approach plate, read this METAR, read this TAF, do we need an alternate? Can we shoot approach with xxx/xx? when can we? What are TO mins? What if you are cruising at 9000 feet and cabin pressure reads 9000 feet?
I bumbled a couple questions a bit, but corrected myself and feel like I got to the right answers.
I felt good about the exchange overall to this point.
Next we went down for SIM. You will wait for a good 25-30 mins per person, so settle in and BS with the other people there. I was informed there would be a slight delay because the electric trim was broken. When I got back for the SIM, it was still broken. It's a FRASCA CRJ-200 FTD. I have zero experience with anything like this. I also have zero glass experience and zero jet experience. I informed the nice lady that was giving the evaluation and she gave me a quick briefing on the display, some power settings and what the ride was going to consist of. She will set takeoff power for you, but after that the power control is on you. She also takes care of heading bugs, airspeed bugs, altitude select, FD modes. All you do is fly and control the power. They tell you to follow and trust the flight director. I'll be honest, I struggled with it. I found the lack of trim control to be a problem, and the lady was very nice about applying trim if you asked for it and she was doing everything she could to help. Not being familiar with the FTD, I found it to be both non responsive at times and then way over responsive at other times. I managed to bully my way though the basics maneuvers which were. TO runway heading, climbing left turn to 5000 feet, track a radial inbound for hold. (she asked about the hold prior to the flight and I gave the entry, and did not fly the hold.) Then it was vectors for the ILS. (You are not given a plate or briefing.) She was helpful with suggested power setting for the different phases of flight.) Vectors, descend, slow, intercept and she handles all the call outs and gear, flaps etc for you. I made standard responses along the way, acknowledging headings and altitudes, etc. You fly the approach and land.
OK side note. Since there was no briefing I asked what the DA was, its 200 feet. There is a radar altimeter so use it. I was still having some control issues with the SIM and once configured for landing it became very problematic not to have the trim control. I ended up going full deflecting on the localizer while still maintaining GS. This was after chasing it for a while, so I initiated a missed approach which was basically full power and climb because there was no briefing. I feel confident that was the right thing to do at the time, it still does not excuse my control issues. I won't blame the situation with the trim for my failure to perform better. I'm just not wired that way. It was a problem I should be able to overcome in my mind.
Once we finished, I thanked her and told her there was no excuse for my performance and left it at that. A little later she said she was sorry, but I really don't know why. I think she was great and was trying hard to help me succeed.
After that I socialized a bit more and then caught a ride back to the airport. Arrived at ORD in time for thunderstorms and cancelled flights. I spent the night on a chair in the F concourse and arrived home a day late and about noon. This gave me ample time to beat myself up over the mistakes and evaluate things a bit more.
My overall impression with the interview is that they want you to succeed and these are people I would like to work with. If not offered a class I will likely try again after the required waiting period. I hope this was helpful. It was a stress free experience for me, despite my own failings. I really enjoyed the process.
I filled out the application on their website and was called the following day to interview. I was surprised at the quick response, so I scheduled a full month later. They were very organized and informative about what emails I would receive and what was expected of me as far as paperwork goes. I was told they would provide space available travel to Indianapolis, and the hotel was on me.
Unlike some other carriers that I have encountered everything happened exactly as they said it would. My paperwork was sent promptly, follow up email with hotel and ground transportation info quickly followed. I was told point blank that flight information would be sent to me 24-48 hours prior to the interview and it was provided as promised about 72 hours ahead of time. At no point did I feel like things were in question or disorganized.
I found out that travel through ORD is positive space to and from the interview and I had no problems getting to IND from TUL. I arrived and used the provided transportation via Carey Limousine and was taken to the Embassy Suites about 20 miles away in a nice Town Car. The Embassy Suites was very nice and I only needed about 1/4 of the actual huge room I was given. The Republic rate was $65 for the night, with taxes its like $73. In the morning, complimentary made to order breakfast is provided. I also found a place called McAlisters Deli next door, and they had some of the best Broccoli Cheese soup I have had in a long time. There was also a few other places to eat, all within a short walk.
After breakfast we all met in the lobby and were shuttled over to Republic via Hotel Van. It's about 5-6 blocks if you need to walk it for some reason. Once at Republic, you check in on the third floor and stow your bags in a closet and then you are greeted by John in HR. He leads you to a large breakroom where you provide your logbooks, licenses, medicals, and FCC licenses for review.
You are then taken to another room for a presentation about the company. Nothing was off limits and you should ask questions. They talked about the past, future growth, the different certificates, the contract negotiations etc. Like I said, there was nothing off limits.
After the presentation and question session, you will be given a 20 question ATP type written test. You have 10 minutes to complete it. Most questions were Aerodynamics and Weather. Dutch Roll, Mach Tuck, Illusions when entering fog, what to do after TCAS RA maneuver. Nothing mystical.
Next is the Wonderlic, which is like a cross between the SAT and something Sheldon from Big Bang Theory would salivate over. It's basic problem solving and word comprehension. Score of 10 means you are literate, 21 means you are average. Under 10 you are Vince Young, 35 you are Aaron Rodgers. Blah Blah. I did 33 questions in the 12 minutes and I am dirty trucker. It was actually kind of fun to do.
Once that is done, you go over PRIA paperwork with the quirky PRIA lady, and if you have anything that needs to be corrected or added, you will be given that opportunity.
Next they take the folks with the earliest flight and get them to the SIM first. Of the group of 7, I had a late flight out, so I was held in the break room with 3 others guys, and 3 went to the SIM. There were two groups doing the HR/Tech interviews. One was John from the presentation with a line Captain. The other was a lady from HR (Hope) and an FO(Troy).
I was called in to speak with Hope and Troy. We got right into it with legal stuff. Are you OK with a training contract? OK with returning signing bonus if you bail in under a year? Are you instrument current? TMAA Capt. You had problems with? TMAA tough student? Why Republic? Why you? Why did you leave this carrier? What was the biggest sacrifice you made for aviation? What got you started or made you want to start into aviation?
Tech. Brief this approach plate, read this METAR, read this TAF, do we need an alternate? Can we shoot approach with xxx/xx? when can we? What are TO mins? What if you are cruising at 9000 feet and cabin pressure reads 9000 feet?
I bumbled a couple questions a bit, but corrected myself and feel like I got to the right answers.
I felt good about the exchange overall to this point.
Next we went down for SIM. You will wait for a good 25-30 mins per person, so settle in and BS with the other people there. I was informed there would be a slight delay because the electric trim was broken. When I got back for the SIM, it was still broken. It's a FRASCA CRJ-200 FTD. I have zero experience with anything like this. I also have zero glass experience and zero jet experience. I informed the nice lady that was giving the evaluation and she gave me a quick briefing on the display, some power settings and what the ride was going to consist of. She will set takeoff power for you, but after that the power control is on you. She also takes care of heading bugs, airspeed bugs, altitude select, FD modes. All you do is fly and control the power. They tell you to follow and trust the flight director. I'll be honest, I struggled with it. I found the lack of trim control to be a problem, and the lady was very nice about applying trim if you asked for it and she was doing everything she could to help. Not being familiar with the FTD, I found it to be both non responsive at times and then way over responsive at other times. I managed to bully my way though the basics maneuvers which were. TO runway heading, climbing left turn to 5000 feet, track a radial inbound for hold. (she asked about the hold prior to the flight and I gave the entry, and did not fly the hold.) Then it was vectors for the ILS. (You are not given a plate or briefing.) She was helpful with suggested power setting for the different phases of flight.) Vectors, descend, slow, intercept and she handles all the call outs and gear, flaps etc for you. I made standard responses along the way, acknowledging headings and altitudes, etc. You fly the approach and land.
OK side note. Since there was no briefing I asked what the DA was, its 200 feet. There is a radar altimeter so use it. I was still having some control issues with the SIM and once configured for landing it became very problematic not to have the trim control. I ended up going full deflecting on the localizer while still maintaining GS. This was after chasing it for a while, so I initiated a missed approach which was basically full power and climb because there was no briefing. I feel confident that was the right thing to do at the time, it still does not excuse my control issues. I won't blame the situation with the trim for my failure to perform better. I'm just not wired that way. It was a problem I should be able to overcome in my mind.
Once we finished, I thanked her and told her there was no excuse for my performance and left it at that. A little later she said she was sorry, but I really don't know why. I think she was great and was trying hard to help me succeed.
After that I socialized a bit more and then caught a ride back to the airport. Arrived at ORD in time for thunderstorms and cancelled flights. I spent the night on a chair in the F concourse and arrived home a day late and about noon. This gave me ample time to beat myself up over the mistakes and evaluate things a bit more.
My overall impression with the interview is that they want you to succeed and these are people I would like to work with. If not offered a class I will likely try again after the required waiting period. I hope this was helpful. It was a stress free experience for me, despite my own failings. I really enjoyed the process.
