Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Friendliest aviation Ccmmunity on the web
  • Modern site for PC's, Phones, Tablets - no 3rd party apps required
  • Ask questions, help others, promote aviation
  • Share the passion for aviation
  • Invite everyone to Flightinfo.com and let's have fun

Comparing hiring practices--Who is doing it right?

Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Modern secure site, no 3rd party apps required
  • Invite your friends
  • Share the passion of aviation
  • Friendliest aviation community on the web

FlyBoeingJets

YES, that's NICE
Joined
Mar 20, 2003
Posts
1,802
This is not intended as flame bait. For those who wish to flame go ahead if you must, but I really am interested in some real info and opinions.


Who has the best hiring practices? SWA, FedEx, Airtran, JetBlue or anyone else

How do they compare with other dominant carriers? Delta, UAL, NWA, CAL and AA in the '80-'90s


It seems FedEx is relying on ACP's and CP to feed HR who to interview. SWA uses the People department to screen applicants then uses interview results and pilot input for the decision board. JetBlue uses the computer and "Blue Dart" lotteries to help pin point who to hire.

FedEx uses the sim and testing. SWA does not.

UAL used to have internships. I met someone in West Dundee IL who used to be in HR at UAL in the 60's and he told me they had zero time interns. They wanted to hire based solely on personality. I've heard before about the 250 hour wonders at UAL in the 80's. SWA has always required higher mins than others and used to require the type to interview.

O.K. Which way is best. Which airline has or will have the best pilot group. I know "Best" can mean different things to different people. For the company it means the least problems and some flexibility. They want to keep their pilots and they don't want any mishaps. They also want motivated workers who play well with others.

The best "sticks" have some of that but, of course, they need to be good employees too. Which airline will have the best pilot group, not the absolute best "sticks". You can tell us who are the best sticks too, if need be, and how that improves the quality of the pilot group.
 
Last edited:
In my opinion, I think SWA is the best. They seem to do everything they can to remove the 'good ol' boys club' mentality from their hiring practices. They have good high minimums, which mean only highly qualified applicants have a shot, and they don't accept letters of rec until the interview. They also do everything they can to try to interview people from every background. Not just 121, not just military, etc. I think that is the best way to do things. It gives you access to an extremely wide range of applicants and ensures that you hire the best people based on qualifications, not just who knows the chief pilots' cousins' brothers' girlfriend.

Somewhere like FedEx or UPS is bad. You have to know somebody and have letters of rec before they'll even talk to you. To me, that is really stupid. How many highly qualified, good people are they passing up because they don't know somebody. Even though they are probably two of the best places to work in the whole industry, they are the textbook definition of a 'good ol' boys club'.

Airtran is another stupid one. 500 hours 121 PIC minimum. How many incredibly well qualified 135 and corporate guys out there are they leaving out of their process? They'd rather have 500 hours as an RJ captain then 5000 hours as a G550 captain? Stoooooopid!!!

Just in my opinion anyway.
 
CapnVegetto said:
In my opinion, I think SWA is the best. They seem to do everything they can to remove the 'good ol' boys club' mentality from their hiring practices. They have good high minimums, which mean only highly qualified applicants have a shot, and they don't accept letters of rec until the interview. They also do everything they can to try to interview people from every background. Not just 121, not just military, etc. I think that is the best way to do things. It gives you access to an extremely wide range of applicants and ensures that you hire the best people based on qualifications, not just who knows the chief pilots' cousins' brothers' girlfriend.

You are high. "You can work here if you spend $8000 you probably don't have first"

They have turned down alot of great people that I know and hired a good deal of morons.

I don't think any airline's hiring practices are perfect. There will always be idiots sneaking in and great people getting weeded out.
 
CapnVegetto said:
Airtran is another stupid one. 500 hours 121 PIC minimum. How many incredibly well qualified 135 and corporate guys out there are they leaving out of their process? They'd rather have 500 hours as an RJ captain then 5000 hours as a G550 captain? Stoooooopid!!!

Just in my opinion anyway.

While you are certainly entitled to your opinion, know this; AirTran didn't just pull this requirement out of their ass. Years of training experience has shown that they get better results upgrading new hires in 2-3 years if the pilot has prior 121 PIC time.

I'm not defending this requirement, nor do I agree with it, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's Stoooooopid!!
 
Capt Megadeath,

Thanks for the constructive criticism regarding SWA's interviewing/hiring practices. I'll call Herb at home on the 4th and have him look into it.
 
SWA GUY said:
Capt Megadeath,

Thanks for the constructive criticism regarding SWA's interviewing/hiring practices. I'll call Herb at home on the 4th and have him look into it.

Truth hurts dude. Ask anyone that took out of their savings just to have a shot, then got the "thanks but no thanks, maybe you will be good enough the second time around". PUHLEEEAZE.
 
Truth hurts?

Just because one doesn't get hired doesnt mean he/she won't be hired the second or third time around.

It's not like anyone's holding a gun to another's head telling them to get a type.
 
In defense of SWA, you don't have to go pay for a 737 type. They just want you to have one. It's not like they require you to pay them for your initial type.

How is that different from a place asking for a HS-125 or G-IV FO but requiring that they be type rated in the aircraft?

Now, 121 PIC requirement is IMO pretty lame. How is 500 hours in a Twin Otter flying under Part 121 more competitive than say a 1000 hours as G-IV captain? To each their own I guess...

I agree, the good ol' boy networks suck! UPS and FDX... forget it. Aloha's hiring practice also sucks - if you don't know anyone here, 99.99% chance you won't even get a shot here.
 
Whichever major calls me first has the best hiring practices.
 
capt. megadeth said:
Truth hurts dude. Ask anyone that took out of their savings just to have a shot, then got the "thanks but no thanks, maybe you will be good enough the second time around". PUHLEEEAZE.

Could be that some of those cast off did not have enough quality time, in accordance with their peer interview group. There still are a lot of those 400 hour Turboprop new hires out there, that think 5 years in this business means they should be at a Major already. With the amount of high time furloughed pilots out there, 1000 PIC turbine won’t mean much.
 

Latest resources

Back
Top