Air Canada Interview Prep

[FL030]

What a piss poor deal for AC. Penny wise pound foolish, as they say.

I honestly think it was a terrible decision. The complaints I hear from Captains about the incoming Jazz pilots are shocking. My personal interaction with them has been minimal but I recall during my PIT course some struggled to even complete the exam at that end. It's an open-book exam, using an iPad with a search function.

[Captain S itmagnet]

This clown and so-called “captain kirk” (lower case intentional) needs to be continued to be called out for the charlatan that he appears to be.

Many years ago over a beer a fellow rookie pilot wisely stated that when that magic day comes that we move up the ladder, our role was to “reach down and grab a fellow aspiring pilot’s hand and help him onto that step you just vacated”. Tragically he is not around to kick this guy’s sorry @ss for being a selfish mercenary. In fact I have seen too many cases of that hand reaching up being stomped on.

FFS I have been in this racket for 35 years and it’s such a great feeling knowing you played a small role in helping someone get a start or onto the next step up that ladder. It was done for me way back when, and I will continue to reciprocate as the torch gets passed.
If you need money to justify that, well, you are a disgrace to the term “professional” and make a mockery of the term “mentor”.

CSM and his 2 cents, which is hopefully more useful than throwing $ in another direction.

[Ash Ketchum]

I think he possibly got the idea from all the "mentors" these days selling courses on getting rich via online businesses such as Drop shipping, lead generation, and Amazon FBA. Unfortunately I have a few friends who have bought into these and they all end up losing money.

[altiplano]

This clown and so-called “captain kirk” (lower case intentional) needs to be continued to be called out for the charlatan that he appears to be.

Many years ago over a beer a fellow rookie pilot wisely stated that when that magic day comes that we move up the ladder, our role was to “reach down and grab a fellow aspiring pilot’s hand and help him onto that step you just vacated”. Tragically he is not around to kick this guy’s sorry @ss for being a selfish mercenary. In fact I have seen too many cases of that hand reaching up being stomped on.

FFS I have been in this racket for 35 years and it’s such a great feeling knowing you played a small role in helping someone get a start or onto the next step up that ladder. It was done for me way back when, and I will continue to reciprocate as the torch gets passed.
If you need money to justify that, well, you are a disgrace to the term “professional” and make a mockery of the term “mentor”.

CSM and his 2 cents, which is hopefully more useful than throwing $ in another direction.

Good post. Totally agree.

Landing Strip is closed....

You would know that...

[BTD]

What a piss poor deal for AC. Penny wise pound foolish, as they say.

I honestly think it was a terrible decision. The complaints I hear from Captains about the incoming Jazz pilots are shocking. My personal interaction with them has been minimal but I recall during my PIT course some struggled to even complete the exam at that end. It's an open-book exam, using an iPad with a search function.

In my capacity as a training captain and line pilot, the vast majority of those who have come from jazz are competent and professional.

I was never at jazz,

[Malfunction]

Have any interviews started yet?

[iflyroads]

Planning to start interviews in April/May.

[WellThatAgedWell]

Can I wear my mask to the interview?

[Inverted2]

Can I wear my mask to the interview?

Yes

[altiplano]

They love gimps.

[schnitzel2k3]

If you get turned on by the long drawn out pain of never knowing when you're going to get relief from the whipping, bonus. Be sure to advise the psych evaluator. Who needs a 'paid mentorship' when you have Avcanada?

[co-joe]

The prep is, you have to bring a certified logbook. That didn't used to be a thing so I had to track down old CPs and meet up to get things signed, then you have to put little post it notes on pages with career highlights in case they want to talk about them. The seem to really like straight line career paths for this, if they say things like "wow you've worked for a lot of companies in 15 years of flying", that's not a positive. College, instructing, tier 2, tier 1, interview would be ideal, or college, military, here... short straight line career paths. Of course there are exceptions, but they asked why I left certain jobs and didn't seem happy with my reasons.

They asked the standard behaviour descriptive questions everyone does but always a little twist. I had 2 pages of examples ready, with bold letters to indicate key memory jogs.

References have to be a CP or Ops manager nothing else. Which is awesome, hey I'm looking to walk, there is nobody else with my experience who will work for you at this crazy low wage/ schedule, please give me the reference I need to leave.

The mmpi, and eqi, and tqas or whatever they're called are a pain, not much to say. Yes my father is a good man, no I don't hear voices, yes I've wanted to be a race car driver, no I've never wanted to be a florist, no I don't frequently think of killing myself, no I don't get frequent stomach aches....and on and on.

If your BP is anything other than 120/ 80 get that taken care of before the medical, talk a doctor into prescribing you BP meds and make sure they're legal for TC. If you get the east Indian lady doctor, well sorry about your luck. Yes she stuck her finger in my bum. I told her I was Celiac and she told me I was lying and that if really was Celiac I wouldn't be so fat (at most I'm 20 lbs overweight...who isn't). Then she made me go on BP drugs, take daily trends for 2 months and submit them to her, then made me get a heart stress test at my own expense. The day after I submitted the test results I got the PFO email. The cardiac specialist told me heart is in perfect shape and that I can start training for marathons tomorrow without worry.

Good luck to all, remember not to put off enjoying the journey till you get to AC.

[unmaskedemperor]

Hey guys, when an airline asks if you have 705 experience does that mean a major airline operating in Canada experience or could it be any major airline in the world? Thanks

[WestJet Puke]

The prep is, you have to bring a certified logbook. That didn't used to be a thing so I had to track down old CPs and meet up to get things signed, then you have to put little post it notes on pages with career highlights in case they want to talk about them. The seem to really like straight line career paths for this, if they say things like "wow you've worked for a lot of companies in 15 years of flying", that's not a positive. College, instructing, tier 2, tier 1, interview would be ideal, or college, military, here... short straight line career paths. Of course there are exceptions, but they asked why I left certain jobs and didn't seem happy with my reasons.

They asked the standard behaviour descriptive questions everyone does but always a little twist. I had 2 pages of examples ready, with bold letters to indicate key memory jogs.

References have to be a CP or Ops manager nothing else. Which is awesome, hey I'm looking to walk, there is nobody else with my experience who will work for you at this crazy low wage/ schedule, please give me the reference I need to leave.

The mmpi, and eqi, and tqas or whatever they're called are a pain, not much to say. Yes my father is a good man, no I don't hear voices, yes I've wanted to be a race car driver, no I've never wanted to be a florist, no I don't frequently think of killing myself, no I don't get frequent stomach aches....and on and on.

If your BP is anything other than 120/ 80 get that taken care of before the medical, talk a doctor into prescribing you BP meds and make sure they're legal for TC. If you get the east Indian lady doctor, well sorry about your luck. Yes she stuck her finger in my bum. I told her I was Celiac and she told me I was lying and that if really was Celiac I wouldn't be so fat (at most I'm 20 lbs overweight...who isn't). Then she made me go on BP drugs, take daily trends for 2 months and submit them to her, then made me get a heart stress test at my own expense. The day after I submitted the test results I got the PFO email. The cardiac specialist told me heart is in perfect shape and that I can start training for marathons tomorrow without worry.

Good luck to all, remember not to put off enjoying the journey till you get to AC.

Absolute gold.

Respect my friend.

Best advice for AC applicants is to buy co-joe $225 worth of beer, and you'll get the best insights on getting there.....

[altiplano]

LOL... sorry you got the PFO, that story is a pretty good primer for those getting the call...

Not far off my own experience...

I'll add what I said before, it perhaps doesn't have to be a straight line to AC, god knows mine wasn't, but they like progression and commitment. Left seat, right seat, bigger airplane, repeat along with training and similar roles along the way and so on.

Career highlights?
"cut loose left seat for the first time in the twin turbine and that time I delivered a baby in 22D were both big days, of course there was that moon landing I greased, but the biggest highlight, the biggest day of my career is right here, today, talking to you about my next 25 years at AC..." they liked that... LOL.. good luck to everyone getting the call, esp. OTS.

[alkaseltzer]

What a piss poor deal for AC. Penny wise pound foolish, as they say.

I honestly think it was a terrible decision. The complaints I hear from Captains about the incoming Jazz pilots are shocking. My personal interaction with them has been minimal but I recall during my PIT course some struggled to even complete the exam at that end. It's an open-book exam, using an iPad with a search function.

The latest generation of Jazz pilots - the public should be asking questions.

[Old fella]

What a piss poor deal for AC. Penny wise pound foolish, as they say.

I honestly think it was a terrible decision. The complaints I hear from Captains about the incoming Jazz pilots are shocking. My personal interaction with them has been minimal but I recall during my PIT course some struggled to even complete the exam at that end. It's an open-book exam, using an iPad with a search function.

The latest generation of Jazz pilots - the public should be asking questions.

Ok… I am a member of the public( I never worked for any airline) so what questions should we ask then. Are you suggesting there a pilots in cockpits of Jazz aircraft who shouldn’t be there.

[altiplano]

I'm a supporter of OTS hiring being equal to express, ie. no quota for express flow, but I have flown with many ex-Jazz/Sky/Georgian most of whom were fine to fly with.

[rudder]

I'm a supporter of OTS hiring being equal to express, ie. no quota for express flow,…

This is a moot point since it is codified in agreements between AC, CHR, Jazz, and ALPA.

There is nothing in the ACPA CBA re: new-hires other than assignment of seniority and entitlements (pay level, vacation, pension, etc).

It would take a multilateral agreement to modify the 60% requirement.

[altiplano]

I'm a supporter of OTS hiring being equal to express, ie. no quota for express flow,…

This is a moot point since it is codified in agreements between AC, CHR, Jazz, and ALPA.

There is nothing in the ACPA CBA re: new-hires other than assignment of seniority and entitlements (pay level, vacation, pension, etc).

It would take a multilateral agreement to modify the 60% requirement.

I'm not talking about your CBA or multilateral modifications or anything else. Moot or not, I'm just saying I support and believe that OTS hiring should be equal. I'm against affirmative action or any matrix based on anything other than who's best for the job. Opinion only.