January 2009 Archives

AirTran will increase its capacity significantly at Baltimore/Washington Airport and even more so in Milwaukee.The airline’s executives see a big opportunity because of cutbacks implemented by Milwaukee-based Midwest Airlines.

“Our big focus is going to be in Milwaukee,” Bob Fornaro, AirTran’s chairman, president and CEO, said during a conference call with stock analysts this week.

AirTran cut capacity in the fourth quarter of last year, sold or rescheduled 46 of its aircraft and changed its fuel hedging program. Add those cost cutting moves to the dramatic decline in fuel costs and record-high revenue and AirTran executives are confident in a first quarter and full-year profit in 2009 if fuel prices stay as low as projected.

AirTran sees room for expansion in Milwaukee, where it now operates about 20 daily departures. At Baltimore/Washington (BWI), AirTran is growing more in 2009 even as the other carriers there cut back. Overall capacity at BWI is down, but AirTran’s is up 16%.

Airline Transport Professionals will be opening five new Flight Training Centers over the next few months. New locations include Charlotte, Indianapolis, Oakland, Tampa and San Diego. The Training Center in San Diego will be the first new Training center to open, with doors opening on February 9^th.

ATP has a proven 25 year track record as the nation’s leader in accelerated, multi-engine flight training. ATP will have 24 Flight Training Centers across the country when the new Centers are added, with Regional Jet Training Centers operating additionally in Jacksonville, Dallas and Phoenix.

When a person goes to college to get a four year degree, they often emerge without all the tools and experience to succeed in a professional environment. And just as often, graduates don't even know what direction they want to take their life in after they receive their degree. A hypothetical example:

Jason works hard in high school and gets into a state university on a full academic scholarship. Four years later Jason completes his studies and receives a degree in Psychology. He has emerged more intelligent and very knowledgeable on the subject of his studies, but he only has a slight chance to actually acquire a job in the psychology field with his undergraduate degree. There are other types of jobs he could get with his degree, but he isn't in love with any of his options.

At this point, Jason has two choices - he can begin a career outside of his chosen field, or he can go for more education. Even with a more advanced degree he might not get the job he wants. On the other hand, he could have taken his education in a far more practical direction: training that also provides experience. In today's world, there are very few options that put you on a specific, guided career path and give you the experience to climb the ladder to success.

Completing a career-oriented flight training program is one of those exceptional options. You graduate from a career program in aviation, and you have all the tools to succeed. You'll be licensed in the field you trained in, and have the experience to back it up. Not only that, but you know EXACTLY where your career is headed. There's no period of "finding yourself" after college, or settling for a job that you don't love just to pay the bills. In aviation, you'll have a job right out of the program that is leading you to your goal of becoming an airline pilot. Just be sure your career program offers flight instructor ratings, or some other means of gaining additional experience.

Even better - you can pursue your four year degree while training for a specific career path such as aviation. Every certificate you earn while flying can be applied as credit for a college degree. You’ll emerge with a guided career path, and a solid college degree to supplement your qualifications for the job of your dreams.

Congratulations to Neal, who was just hired by Great Lakes Airlines. Neal completed the Airline Career Pilot Program and Regional Jet Standards Certification Program with ATP.

Congratulations, Neal! We wish you continued success in achieving your aviation career goals.

Jamail Larkins, ambassador for the Federal Aviation Administration, visited students at several Florida schools to kick off The DreamLaunch Tour. DreamLaunch exposes students to the Aviation Profession and encourages them to follow their dreams and pursue careers in aviation.

Twenty-five percent of the aviation workforce was eligible to retire in 2008, leaving a huge need for new aviation experts to fill those positions," Larkins said during the presentation at Choctawhatchee High School in Fort Walton Beach. He pointed to statistics warning of a shortage of properly trained pilots needed to meet the demand for airline pilots that is approaching soon.

Larkins told the students that after his first flight 12 years ago he never would have guessed he would be where he is today. "That flight changed my life," Larkins said. "I got hooked on aviation."

"No matter what goal or dream you have, you can turn any dream into a reality," Larkins said. "The first century of flight was exciting. The second promises to be exhilarating."

I received a call from an ATP Airline Career Pilot Program and Regional Jet Certification Program graduate who had been furloughed from Air Wisconsin. He was contacted by the airline by mail and informed that he was being recalled. He was also asked for his commitment to return.

According to him, Air Wisconsin has sent out recall notices to six pilots to return to flight duty in mid-February. It is also being reported that, although there are no commitments from AWAC, the airline plans to upgrade ten pilots to Captain in April.

ATP Alumni often pass along interview questions to us that they have been asked during the Technical Interview section of an airline interview. We have compiled these questions, and these are the questions most often asked.

Charts:

• What is a MOCA?
• What is a MEA?
• What does RVR mean?
• What is a Compulsory Reporting Point?
• What is a FAF?
• What determines when you go missed approach on an ILS?
• Where is the final approach fix on an ILS?

Weather:

• What is Virga?
• What is a Microburst?
• What are the four types of structural icing?
• What is a Convective Sigmet and what does it cover?
• How far should you fly from a thunderstorm for safety?
• What is a METAR?
• What does BR mean in a METAR?

Aircraft:

• What is Vmc?
• How does CG affect Vmc?
• What makes an airplane stall?
• What is P factor?
• Where is bleed air taken from?

Regulations:

• What are the Part 121 Duty Time Regulations? (8 hours per 24 hour period/30 per week/ 100 per month/100 per year)
• At what altitude are you required to have DME equipment?
• What do you need to be current ( 3 take offs & landings etc.)?
• What altitude do you fly when you have lost communications?
• What is the minimum altitude you can fly over a congested area?
• What is the Max airspeed in Class B airspace?
• What are the cloud clearance requirements in Class B?
• What are the IFR altitudes above FL 290 for an aircraft heading between 0 and 179 degrees?
• Flashing red light gun signal while flying means what?
• What period of time do you have to report an accident to the FAA?
• What is the maximum holding airspeed at 3000 MSL?
• What is the maximum airspeed in Class C?

Pinnacle Airlines announced today that it has signed an agreement with Continental Airlines to expand the number of Canadair/Bombardier Q400 aircraft operated by Colgan Air as a Continental Connection carrier. Pinnacle subsidiary Colgan Air will purchase 15 additional Q400s to be operated under the agreement between Continental Airlines and Colgan Air.

The Q400s will be operated for a period of ten years under the agreement. After the expansion, Colgan will operate 30 Q400 aircraft for Continental Airlines as a Continental Connection carrier.

1. What made you decide to become a pilot?

• Why did you decide to get into commercial aviation?

2. Where and what type of school did you train in?

• How did you pay for your training?
• What was the hardest part of your training?

3. Why did you leave your previous employer?

• What made you want to change professions?

4. Why do you want to work for __________ Airlines?

5. How would __________ Airlines benefit from hiring you?

• What will you do if you are NOT hired by this airline?

6. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

• What are the high and low points in your life?

7. Give us an example of when you demonstrated good leadership?

• What are some of the leadership roles you have had in the past?

8. What is the hardest decision that you have had to make?

• Give an example of a split-second decision you had to make?
• In flying? In your life?
• How did it turn out?

9. Tell us about a problem that you had to solve as part of a group?

• How did it turn out?

10. Tell us about a conflict that you have had with a Superior/Supervisor?

• Your Captain refuses to obey regs, what do you do?
• You show up and can smell alcohol on the Flight Attendant’s breath, what would you do? Would it be different if it were the Captain's breath that smelled like alcohol?

The questions above were collected and compared to find the questions asked most often. There were plenty of other popular questions also, and here are some of them in no particular order:

Give an example of a situation which you have learned from in aviation? Give an example of when you have risen to a challenge set for you by a superior? Give an example of what makes you angry? How do you handle stress? Have you interviewed with anyone else? What is the First Officer's role on the flightdeck? What is a pilot’s role in customer service? Have you ever failed a checkride? How would you deal with a difficult coworker?

ATP welcomes four of its Airline Career Pilot Program Graduates as new CFIs:

• Glen from ATP Panama City
• Jonathon from ATP Daytona Beach
• Evan from ATP Jacksonville
• Christopher from ATP Phoenix

Glen and Christopher both attended ATP's Private Pilot and Airline Career Pilot Program. Jonathon and Evan attended ATP's Airline Career Pilot Program. All four instructors have been working hard to stay active in the aviation industry.

We are pleased to have resumed accepting instructors from the waiting list, and look forward to bringing more Airline Career Pilot Program graduates on board in the future. CFI placement assistance will continue for graduates further down on the waiting list.

Chesley Burnett ‘Sully’ Sullenberger III is an unlikely name for a superhero, but that’s what he is. Captain Sullenberger was in command of his US Airways A320 aircraft as it was climbing out of La Guardia airport when disaster struck. We can’t be sure of the cause at this point, but it is clear that Captain Sullenberger’s aircraft suffered a catastrophic loss of power that required him to try and return to the field for an emergency landing. It became certain to him and his First Officer that they weren’t going to make it back to the runway, and they quickly decided to ditch the aircraft in the Hudson River. The river was their only choice, as crash landing in the middle of New York’s densely populated skyscrapers most certainly would not have turned out so well.

Captain Sullenberger made the right choice, and he and his crew responded using the countless hours of training they had received in preparation for just such an emergency. The Flight Attendants prepared the cabin and passengers for a crash landing. The First Officer quickly and precisely assisted his Captain in executing a perfect forced landing in a river. That was the first time in 45 years that an airliner had crash-landed in the water, and every passenger and crewmen on board had made it out alive.

This is an era where many in the general population think of airline pilots as better-dressed bus drivers who simply manage an autopilot. I hope this story makes people consider just how hard pilots have to work every day to always be ready for an emergency. It's a profession that deserves much more respect than it typically receives lately. I'm so glad this crew is getting the "hero" treatment. What an honor it is to fly those amazing machines with such trust placed in you by so many people. Maybe more people will recognize that now - I know the passengers on Flight 1549 do.

Chrysler, GM and Ford executives caused a public and Congressional backlash when they arrived in Washington last year in private jets to plead for a financial bailout from Congress. As a result, Congress planned to place a ban on owning or leasing private aircraft by corporations receiving money from the TARP Bailout Program.

That ban has been described as an over-reaction that could affect the jobs of more than 1,265,000 people employed in the General Aviation Industry. The ban would also lessen the $150 billion dollars the industry adds to the U.S. economy.

Then there was the threat the ban posed to us who aspire to fly for a living. Corporate flight departments employ tens of thousands of pilots in this country. Corporate aviation is one of a few alternatives to flying for an airline, and provides a great career. Those flying jobs would be severely reduced in number by the ban.

The proposed ban caused an immediate reaction from the General Aviation community. Citizens from groups such as Alliance for Aviation Across America began contacting members of Congress in large numbers, demanding that the ban be deleted from TARP. In response, the private aircraft ban was removed yesterday from the TARP Bill by the bill’s author, Representative Barney Frank.

AirTran Airways will soon recall 60 pilots back from furlough. The recall is in response to an increase in AirTran’s projected passenger loads. AirTran has announced plans to increase the hours flown by each of their aircraft, according to the Atlanta Constitution. AirTran will also hire as many as 120 new Flight Attendants.

Mike Best, the President of AirTran’s pilot union, said that they are “very hopeful” that the remaining AirTran pilots still on furlough will be recalled later this year.

The pilots union for American Airlines announced that it had been notified by American that it will recall 24 furloughed pilots in February. The Allied Pilots Association also said that while American Airlines would not commit to further recalls, that they anticipate a similar number of pilots to be recalled in March of 2009.

I recently received my copy of AOPA Flight Training Magazine and the first thing I read about was the new President of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) earning his Multi-engine Rating with ATP in Richmond, Virginia. New President Craig Fuller will write a monthly article about the thrill of being a pilot and general aviation, and I look forward to every one of them. Craig will be an excellent advocate of aviation, as the preceding three AOPA Presidents have been, and we look forward to flying with him again.

In an ongoing move to replace the CRJ-200s presently in its Delta Connection fleet, Delta has made a deal with Skywest Inc. to have ASA operate the 10 CRJ-900s out of its Atlanta hub.

ASA presently operates 110 CRJ-200s and 39 CRJ-700s, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Skywest Airlines.

Gulfstream executives say that it will proceed with expansion plans at its facilities despite the economic downturn. Aviation Analyst Richard Aboulafia says Gulfstream is well-situated to benefit from on the inevitable uptick in the market with the several new aircraft models. "Gulfstream is wisely getting that going in preparation for the next upturn," Aboulafia said. "If you accept that wealth generation will return, the need for transport will return, globalization will return."

Mr. Aboulafia makes a good point, which is that there is a lot of investment money that is sitting idle at this time. History has shown that this situation can’t last long and that it will be inevitable that investors will return to the marketplace to generate wealth. At that time, the need for transportation will return to normal levels and aviation and the airline industry will return to its historic levels of activity. The need for pilots will also expand sharply at that time, and those that have trained and prepared for those pilot positions will get the jobs.

Skywest has begun to accept resumes again after a long respite. Delta Airlines has assigned additional aircraft and routes to Skywest after the dust settled from its merger with Northwest Airlines.

Skywest has announced that the minimum acceptable flight experience is 1,000 hours, although they have agreed to accept substantially less if an applicant is a graduate of ATP’s Regional Jet Standards Certification Program.

Delta Air Lines recently reversed a decision to allocate 15 Bombardier CRJ900s to Mesaba Airlines and instead will only award five of the aircraft to the carrier. Now Delta Connection partner Skywest will operate the remaining 10 aircraft, possibly with its subsidiary ASA.

Republic Airways reported an increase of 6.2 percent over December traffic figures from last year. Republic carried a total of 1.5 million passengers in December of 2008. The total passengers carried in 2008 also increased 16.1 percent over annual figures from 2007. Republic flies routes for American Airlines, Continental, Delta, US Airways, Midwest and Mokulele Airlines.

I work for the ATP’s Regional Jet Department and as such I don’t do much for the Airline Career Pilot Program Students until they are finished with their training and are ready to transition to RJs. However, I do have many opportunities to observe ATP going about its business of training tomorrow’s airline pilots, and I’m continually impressed with ACPP graduates. When they come through the RJ Program they consistently fly like they have a much higher experience level than they actually do.

I have never seen a flight academy like Airline Transport Professionals, and there are good reasons for the results that they get. ATP's top management team is a sincere advocate of its students, and it shows. Their attitude travels down the line to other ATP employees and instructors, and the end result is an academy where the students always come first.

In a press release last week, ATP vice-president Jim Koziarski announced the simultaneous price decrease for the ACPP and a rebate to current students, due to the decreased cost of AvGas. ATP is giving its current students a rebate of up to $2500. Tuition has been reduced for any newly enrolled ACPP Students to reflect the current cost of AvGas.

When my peers ask me why I am so proud to be with ATP, I point to the many examples of where ATP has done the right thing. From price decreases to rebates, from CFI job-search assistance to Regional Airline hiring partnerships, ATP makes every effort to ensure its students' succeed in the pursuit of their career goals.

Is there any other institution of this type that, even in an economic downturn, is willing to actually give money back to students? I think you'll find that, in cases like these, ATP stands alone.

Incomplete Paperwork

• Use a spellchecker.
• Check for bad or undecipherable handwriting.
• Check for errors regarding facts and math.
• Have your Logbooks up to date and properly endorsed.
• Make sure you provide all requested information.

Dressing Unprofessionally for the Interview

• Wear a Dark colored suit with shined shoes and a matching belt.
• Wear conservative, matching accessories.
• Always arrive for the interview professionally groomed.
• Make sure that any tattoos are covered.

Unprofessional Behavior

• Make eye contact with your interviewer or anyone you are speaking with.
• Smile when appropriate.
• Address every Interviewer if there is more than one.
• Don't chew gum or eat candy.
• Don't act restlessly, squirm or fidget.
• Be pleasant and affable with anyone you meet, but especially with:
  All Recruiters and Interviewers.
  Other pilots interviewing with you.
  All Airline employees that you encounter.

Misc. (Things you should already know)

• Never badmouth your past employer, or anyone else.
• Never say anything about the airline you are interviewing with that can be misconstrued as criticism – even in jest.
• Be candid and honest with your answers.
• Don't say anything because you think that is what they want to hear

Use of your common sense, as well as attention to detail, while preparing for an interview will pay off when the spotlight is on you. Oh, and one last thing...Please turn off that cell phone before you walk through the door for your interview.