My days of flying freight
are officially numbered.
After just over three months
with Ameriflight, today I was offered a job as a first officer for American
Eagle Airlines, the regional subsidiary of American Airlines!
I actually interviewed with
Eagle on Monday and initially spoke to them about three weeks ago at the career
fair I went to in Los Angeles. I handed
them my resume and they scheduled an interview on the spot. I traveled to Dallas last weekend after
having spent most of my spare time in the last two weeks preparing for the big
day.
American Eagle is the
largest regional airline in the country.
They fly out of several hubs including Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas,
Chicago, New York, and Puerto Rico.
They employ over 2700 pilots and have nearly 300 aircraft, including the
Saab 340, ATR42/72, and Embraer Regional Jet.
The interview was a very
pleasant experience. They bumped me up
to first class on the way out, and other than having to scramble around Dallas
trying to find a dress shirt on Easter Sunday after forgetting to pack mine, it
all went very smoothly.
There were seven of us that
showed up to the interview. There were
three other freight pilots (including two others from Ameriflight) and three
flight instructors. The morning
consisted of a general introduction to Eagle and a lot of paperwork. There were then two interviews for each
candidate. The first was a technical
interview designed to probe our knowledge of flying, and the other was a
traditional-style human resources interview with questions like “Why do you
want to work for American Eagle?” etc.
Both interviews were done by Eagle captains.
Only five of the seven of us
made it past the morning interviews.
The afternoon would consist of a simulator checkride in a full-motion
Boeing 707 simulator. Flying the 707
was very cool. They spent an hour or so
briefing us on all the procedures, power settings, and how to use our sim
evaluator (another Eagle captain) as a first officer in a crew
environment. It was a simple flight –
depart from LAX, execute a holding pattern, and return to LAX for an ILS
approach. This all would have been very
easy if not for having to fly it in a 4-engine jet, but with my “first officer”
to fine tune the power settings, tune radios, and set flaps and landing gear at
my request, it went quite well and the evaluator seemed happy with my flying.
After the checkride, I raced
out of there just in time to catch my flight home. I was told that if I got the job, I would be called on
Friday. If not, they would mail me a
letter.
I checked my voice mail at
home this morning and learned of the job offer. I now need to schedule a medical exam back in Dallas. The job offer is contingent upon passing the
exam, which is far more stringent than a standard FAA first class medical. I don’t anticipate any problems.
As thrilled as I am to have
the offer, American Eagle is not my first choice of airlines and I have two
other opportunities to explore before I make my decision. I have an interview with Continental Express
in two weeks in Houston and hope to schedule an interview with Mesa Airlines
soon (Phoenix). Depending on the
airline that I eventually go to work for, I will start some time in the summer.
I love my job flying for
Ameriflight but career advancement and the opportunity to start burning jet
fuel mean that I must move on as soon as possible. More on this later. Needless
to say, it is all very exciting!