Some pointers from a friend that worked WAI

learhawkerbe400 said:
We fly airplanes. We're not working for some trendy tech company in Silicon Valley. Being "well-rounded" has nothing to do with how well you fly an airplane. You know, the thing they pay us to do. In what industry does more experience make you less marketable? It's just so backwards.

But hey I don't own these companies. They can use whatever hiring process they want, they're writing the checks. It's pretty obvious HR has taken over for the most part and has made it into the circus we see today.
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I disagree. Your ability as a pilot is FAR more than ability to keep the dirty side down. If you are a total jerk, you are unsafe. Well rounded people are going to be more flexible in various work situations, and better equipped to adapt to a dynamic environment. If all you ever focus on is flying, you're missing the point.

BTW, the "sweet spot" in our training program seems to be about 2000 hours. Training performance begins to suffer as flight time increases. Do with that what you will.
 
I know it's going to hurt some of the numerical entitlement crowd, but it's "qualitative" and not "quantitative".

If you show up to the carrier you want to work for with the attitude that "Well, I have the flight time, why haven't you called?" you're not going to have a good day.
 
Derg said:
I know it's going to hurt some of the numerical entitlement crowd, but it's "qualitative" and not "quantitative".

If you show up to the carrier you want to work for with the attitude that "Well, I have the flight time, why haven't you called?" you're not going to have a good day.
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This is purely outside looking in, but I would venture a guess that it's not an either/or proposition as some seem to insinuate. I don't know much, but I HAVE seen a lot of pilots cycle through our company (an operation that has a yuuuge amount of facetime with the customers) and we want folks who can fly the hell out of an airplane AND comfort nervous first time fliers, treat the frequent fliers with respect, treat the CSAs/dispatch/maintenance/ramp with professionalism and respect when The Plan is all going to hell, etc, etc, etc. I've only known a few who met those desired qualifications though, and either they stay on and move up in the company, or they zip on through up and out.
 
Roger Roger said:
This is purely outside looking in, but I would venture a guess that it's not an either/or proposition as some seem to insinuate. I don't know much, but I HAVE seen a lot of pilots cycle through our company (an operation that has a yuuuge amount of facetime with the customers) and we want folks who can fly the hell out of an airplane AND comfort nervous first time fliers, treat the frequent fliers with respect, treat the CSAs/dispatch/maintenance/ramp with professionalism and respect when The Plan is all going to hell, etc, etc, etc. I've only known a few who met those desired qualifications though, and either they stay on and move up in the company, or they zip on through up and out.
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(Caveat: I'm making an assumption that you're running a 135 with piston twins, single pilot authorization.)

What you described is exactly the kind of person you're looking for in a 135 operation or part 91, and they're getting harder to find from I'm seeing.

Airlines are a bit different though. You hire the person and then teach them to fly the plane. SOP's are set in stone and adherence is either met or it isn't. That's why they have such an extensive training department. They have the luxury of hiring the person and assuming they have the skills to make it through training. A multi-crew environment is designed to check and recheck. A single pilot operation is much more reliant on getting "good pilots" in the seat from the get-go.

You can train most people to be good pilots. You can't train anybody not to be an arsehole.
 
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Roger Roger said:
This is purely outside looking in, but I would venture a guess that it's not an either/or proposition as some seem to insinuate. I don't know much, but I HAVE seen a lot of pilots cycle through our company (an operation that has a yuuuge amount of facetime with the customers) and we want folks who can fly the hell out of an airplane AND comfort nervous first time fliers, treat the frequent fliers with respect, treat the CSAs/dispatch/maintenance/ramp with professionalism and respect when The Plan is all going to hell, etc, etc, etc. I've only known a few who met those desired qualifications though, and either they stay on and move up in the company, or they zip on through up and out.
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You would be very entertained about a social media post where the internet exploded because I was wearing a uniform coat when it was cold and EGADS got a wheelchair for a passenger in order to commence boarding. :)
 
Cptnchia said:
More like a gnash cluster formed.
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We'd probably still be sitting there with 160 people waiting to board because no one actually, you know, took the initiative to roll the passenger off the airplane.

I will do my best to make the Faceweb rage today with righteous indignation. :)
 
Derg said:
We'd probably still be sitting there with 160 people waiting to board because no one actually, you know, took the initiative to roll the passenger off the airplane.

I will do my best to make the Faceweb rage today with righteous indignation. :)
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I got your six! As for the cost, I was taking some things to the dry cleaners and almost took it too, then thought, "Winter finally came. Self, you might want to wear it another week or so."
 
Plus, at home it's 90F. Everywhere else I fly it's in the 30's at most except for short turns in FL.

Huge cockpit, warm on my northeast walk arounds and I don't look like an lunatic waiting for Golden Touch shivering in short sleeves in the ice floes!
 
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