Shotgun! The Application Process

In January of this year, my election equipment company was sold, and I made the decision not to stay with the new owners. This put into play a series of events which led me to decide to try to get hired as a pilot by a regional airline. I'd like to discuss the application process in this edition, but first some additional history:

Although I've been flying for over 28 years, it has always been "fun" flying, heading out for weekend trips, up to Canada, down to the Bahamas, the occasional $100 hamburger lunch flights. It was not until I started work for Gene back in 2006 that I started to experience crew flying on more complex aircraft. I've owned aircraft before (Cathy and I currently own a beautiful 1954 Bonanza) but with my position with the election equipment company came access to Gene's Cessna 340 pressurized twin, and eventually the DA-10 Falcon, both used to get me or my staff where we needed to be, especially on Election Day. These flights were flown with Ty, who is an exceptional pilot in his late 20's, who is licensed to fly any category and class aircraft there is (how about airship Ty?) and is also an A&P mechanic. Ty also rides mountain bikes over unbelievable distances in even more unbelievably short times. We'll just say that Ty is in fantastic shape. As mentioned, Gene flew for United for many years and has adapted many of the SOP's (Standard Operating Procedures) used at that airline, and Ty has added a lot that he learned from Air Whisky. Why is this important? I discovered that since I retired from the Navy back in 2000, one of the things I missed the most was operating using well-established procedures, and the close crew coordination that it takes to operate complex machinery. Mind you, crewing a 7000 ton nuclear submarine takes a LOT of coordination, especially when operating under ice in the tight confines of the Arctic Ocean, and there's simply no room for "winging it". So, even though I'd been to SimCom initial flight training on the Cessna 340 and could legally fly that aircraft single pilot, I learned that flying the same airplane as a crew of two was not only safer and more professional, but from my perspective a lot more fun. So, as our election equipment business grew, I began to look forward to any business or personal trip where I could fly in this teamwork environment. Business grew, our product made history and sold very well, with over 50,000 units produced and sold in almost 30 states. This success made us an attractive little company in a big company world.

In January 2008, the company was sold, and me and my employees suddenly became employees of the largest election equipment company in the US. This was an exciting time for many of our staff since they now could branch out and learn new products and service lines, but I'm a small company kind of guy. I'm used to operating submarines for months on end with a crew of 120. My 250 MW gas turbine combined cycle power plant in Calgary Alberta had a total staff of 20, and my election equipment company had a staff of 12 when sold. Being a part of a big company was not for me, and there was also one other underlying issue. My "bucket list" of things to do before I die still included one really stupid, over the top item...I want to run for public office some day. As crazy as this seems, in today's world of a new conspiracy each day, having a past career working for the biggest election equipment company in the US would have attracted the kooks like moths to a light bulb and I would stand no hope of a clean campaign, since everyone knows that with my connections all I would have to do is say the word and every electronic voting machine in the country would cast millions of votes for me. Hey, don't laugh. There are thousands of folks out there who really believe this crap. So, Cathy and I agreed that it was time to step into another market, but first a little R&R was in order.

During a wonderful two weeks in Germany with Gene, Cathy, Brandon (on his mid-deployment break from Iraq...second tour with the 101st Airborne) and Martin (a friend and attorney who works with Gene) in May, I began to seriously consider whether or not I would be a viable candidate for a regional airline First Officer. I had 28 years of flying experience and about 1300 total hours which seemed competitive for some airlines, but I was also a late 40's, retired "old guy" ex-executive. Would the airlines really consider me? With encouragement from Gene and Ty, Cathy and I jointly made the decision to give it a shot. Gene also convinced me that having a Falcon type rating and building some jet time would make me even more competitive, so he offered to send me through type rating school to obtain my first type rating. That was an unbelievable experience, and should be reserved for a separate posting.

Upon returning from Germany, and after a fun two weeks at SimuFlite in Dallas obtaining my DA-10 Falcon type rating, I started submitting airline applications. All told, I submitted applications to American Eagle, Colgan, Mesa, Mesaba, GoJet, Comair, Pennacle, Trans States, and a multitude of others. For those who have never submitted an airline employment application, let me fill you in on the process. First of all, prepare to spend some quality time with your logbook(s). Every pilot maintains a logbook, and can always tell you how many total hours, or how many hours of multiengine time they have. However, the airlines want more, and just to keep things interesting, each airline seems to want something slightly different than the others. List every aircraft that you have more then 10 hours in. How many night landings in the past 6 months? How many instrument approaches have you completed in each aircraft in the past 90 days? Like I said, grab a calculator and get ready for some quality time.

The actual method of submitting the application differs also. Many airlines (Mesaba, GoJet, etc.) allow you to submit a resume and cover letter directly from their company web site. Other airlines (Mesa, Colgan, etc.) want applicants to use a website service called Airline Apps (http://www.airlineapps.com/). You can use Airline Apps for free if you are only submitting a single application. Since I wanted to "shotgun" my applications and send as many out as possible, I purchased a one year membership. Another great web site (free) is Airline Pilots Central(http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/) where you can read reasonably up-to-date hiring news from each individual airline. Yet a third site I visited often was Will Fly For Food (also free)(http://www.willflyforfood.cc/) where pilots post their airline interview experiences, great to know information. So, through July and into August and September, I sent out resumes and applications to every airline that I could find an application process for, as long as they indicated that they were either hiring or accepting applications.

In late August I received my first nibble. I heard from Mesa, inviting me to interview in Phoenix. Because I was planning on attending a Mesa job fair in Chicago the following week, Mesa's HR told me to just plan on interviewing at the job fair. Unfortunately, instead of the typical 12 persons attending, 49 (!) persons showed up, so the Mesa folks were overwhelmed and did not conduct any interviews. After they cut us all lose with the "don't call us, we'll call you" message, I showed the Mesa folks a copy of the email inviting me to Phoenix, hoping that they would change their mind. After all, I was prepared for the interview and was ready to go. Instead, they booked me an interview date in Phoenix about four weeks into the future. That would have to do.

Two weeks later, I was informed via email that Mesa was having to furlough pilots, and that my interview was postponed indefinitely. This is probably a really good time to explain that I simply could NOT have picked a worse time to try to break into airline flying. With the down turn in the economy, very high fuel prices, number of pilots leaving the military, etc., there are too few jobs out there for the number of highly qualified pilots available. Supply and demand, pure and simple. As I continued to fly with Gene and Ty, Ty kept insisting that I was doing everything right, but due to the airline hiring situation I really should consider staying in corporate aviation. Since I completed my type rating, I continued to fly with Gene and Ty at every offered opportunity, building experience, confidence, and the all-important turbine time. Ty flew with Air Wisconsin before coming to corporate flying, and Gene flew with United for about 30 years (while also building success as an electrical engineer, inventor, and patent attorney...see why he's my mentor!). I figured that with their advice and encouragement, I should be able to submit a high-quality application, and my first brush with bad news from Mesa started preparing me for the understanding that no matter how hard I tried, no matter how good I thought I was, and no matter how badly I wanted to fly for an airline, there are simply too many variables outside of my control and too many better qualified applicants out there. In other words, I was coming to grips with the fact that I might not be able to catch this dream I was chasing. Although Cathy also continued to encourage me, we jointly set a one-year deadline for the dream. If I could not land a job with the airlines by June of 2009, we agreed that I would move on take another job as an executive or manager in an industry such as the power industry or the elections industry that I was familiar with. I was OK with that; to go my entire life without trying out the dream would be hard to accept. To give it a solid year of honest effort and still not be able to break in would be a different matter.

Fast forward to September. I am stepping out of the door on my way to the airport for a long-awaited trip to Volgograd Russia to tour some World War II battle sites, and the phone rings. I answer to find Colgan Airline on the line, who conducts a short phone interview and then offers me the opportunity to interview in two days. Imagine the choices...take the interview and pass on a trip to Russia, or go to Russia and risk missing out on the airline dream. I was open and honest with the HR rep and told her that I simply could not cancel out on the trip, especially in light of the fact that I had made many of the arrangement with the Russian tour guide, so Gene, Ty, Martin and Bob were relying on me. So, I left for Russia with mixed emotions. While away, Colgan sent me an invitation to attend another interview in NY, but we were were still away (Octoberfest in Munich!) so I missed out yet again.

Then, one October afternoon, I received a call from Mesaba Airlines, inviting me to interview in October or November. The one and only possible glitch was that my son Brandon was going to be returning from Iraq sometime in November, and I wanted to be there when he returned. Mesaba HR agreed and set the date of October 30, which was only about two weeks away! Would this interview be cancelled? Who was Mesaba? Sure they were a regional airline, but WHO were they, and did I really want to work for them? I had spent so much time applying to every single airline who would accept my application, that I did not spend a lot of time digging into the culture and personalities of the companies that I was applying for. So much for Mr. Small Company. I'd prepared for an airline interview. I've read most every book available on the subject. I've read the interview postings. My black suit was ready and my shoes shined. I'd done everything possible to prepare for this interview except for possibly the most important...to determine if this Mesaba company is someone I could be happy working for. I had two weeks to find out.