Colgan Air

[Cruise]

First, and foremost, this site is fabulous. I hope my posting this will help others with their interviews in the future. Ok, here goes:

I have a friend that is a current F.O. for the company and I asked him if he would give me a recommendation to Mr. Colgan. (If you’re not already aware, Mr. Colgan is very accessible to his employees) My friend contacted him 5 minutes later and 10 minutes later called me back stating I should give Chuck Colgan a call. So, about 20 minutes into the process of trying to get an interview, I was speaking personally to Mr. Colgan. Try to do that at XJet or ASA…..probably not going to happen.
So, I chatted with him for a couple minutes and he requested I fill out the required application online and submit it as soon as possible. Received a call two days later and had an interview scheduled for just over a week later. Wow, that happened fast!!!!

Received the tickets to fly to LGA for the interview a couple days later. Fly out early morning on Sunday and go directly to Flight Safety when I arrived in LGA. After I got there was given a 50 question multiple choice test. Most stuff from ATP, Instrument, and Commercial written exams. Provided you’ve studied, this test is a breeze. Some example questions would be: when to set altimeter to 29.92, When are you required to have a PA system in the plane, How many flight attendants, Several instrument questions regarding low Enroute and approach plates……changeover points, mea’s, stuff like that. Like it’s been said before, if it says “refer to diagram” it’s not going to be on the written. Need to get at least a 70% to pass for F.O.’s…….means you can get 15 wrong and still pass……..I couldn’t imagine getting that many wrong……if you study, you should have no problem.

Following the test, Mr. Colgan came into the room and gave a short talk about the company and we had a Q and A session…..this included Kathy Angelo (HR) and a current captain talking about the company as well. This lasted about 15 minutes. Next the 1 on 3’s……I wasn’t able to go on Sunday as scheduled…..they ran out of time. Was told we’d get to it tomorrow morning, prior to the sim ride.

Next morning (Monday), began w/ a 1 on 2…..Mr. Colgan and Mrs. Angelo, the line captain was not present on Monday. This portion of the interview lasted about 20 minutes and was geared toward getting to know the person they were talking to. Questions were: Why Colgan? Why not jet company? Why should they hire you? Worst/ Best day in aviation? How long have you wanted to fly professionally? What do you know about the company that you didn’t learn during the company overview given by Mr. Colgan? What make you think you’ll pass the training? What would you do if you got placed in a base that you didn’t want? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? Do you have any questions for them? BE CERTAIN TO HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS FOR THEM. My advice is to be honest w/ all your answers. They are just trying to get to know you and see if you will fit with the company profile. They are definitely not looking for canned answers. That being said, don’t go in cold without having prepared, either.

Finally, the simulator…..a Beech 1000 level C…not D. The graphics are not good and only night-time IMC. Weather was 500 overcast w/ a slight X-wind. Profile is to takeoff LGA rnwy 22 climb to 400’ and then climbing left turn to 150* and 3,000. Then radar vectors to intercept the 055* off the LGA VOR. Track this radial outbound. Then, given vectors and told to intercept a new radial inbound and given holding instructions. Call out the proper hold entry and you won’t have to fly the hold. Next, radar vectors to intercept the LGA ILS rnwy 22 and fly the ILS and land. Landing not graded…….believe me when I tell you this. I got the RED SCREEN OF DEATH…..lots of crunching sounds and shaking. Wasn’t pretty. But, still got the job offer. So, it’s the rest of the ride that counts.

When I was finished w/ the simulator, went back to the airport for the flight home. I was not feeling to positive about the sim ride since I had crashed on landing. I had no simulator experience prior to this. Unfortunately, my flight was cancelled because of weather and I had to stay an extra night…..on my dime, unfortunately. Was back at the airport the next morning by 0500 to catch a 0600 flight out.

I’ve been waiting patiently for a couple days (3 to be exact) and the call came this afternoon. It was Mrs. Angelo, she asked me how I thought my sim ride went and I told her I thought it wasn’t great, and I wished I’d done better. She joked a bit with me and then offered me the job. Class date only 11 days from now for the Saab 340. With training in Houston.

Hope this helps…….I’ve tried to be as thorough as possible. Now that’s it’s all over, I can say it was a good experience and I can’t wait to start training. Time to crack open the skull and start drinking through the fire hose!

[southbound]

Congrats and thanks for the info, good luck..keep us posted on your progress...andy

[Timbuff10]

Yikes, you can crash and still get hired!

Just kidding, landing some sims is nothing like landing in a real airplane and considering you had no sim experience I would say you did good. Congratulations!

I hear alot about how Colgan is a good place to build some time and run but then I hear about how the owners are really nice and it has a tight knit pilot group.

What were your times when you got the interview? Do you know where you will be based? They based out of IAD but not DCA? is that correct?

[hattrick]

matt just out of curiousity how long was the actual interview with mister colgan. just asking because ive gotten interviews up here that are either "hi how are you im so and so, would you like this job" to interviews that lasted two days all day. i guess it really all depends on who is interviewing you but let me tell you some guys up here take one look at you and thats enough. kind of ridiculous but hey im not complaining

[Cruise]

[ QUOTE ]
Yikes, you can crash and still get hired!

Just kidding, landing some sims is nothing like landing in a real airplane and considering you had no sim experience I would say you did good. Congratulations!

I hear alot about how Colgan is a good place to build some time and run but then I hear about how the owners are really nice and it has a tight knit pilot group.

What were your times when you got the interview? Do you know where you will be based? They based out of IAD but not DCA? is that correct?

[/ QUOTE ]

You know, I tried to obtain some sim. training prior to going to the interview and it's not easy. No one wants to rent the sim to an individual for an hour or two.......I wanted to get a little practice before the interview....but alas...no luck. Most places said they only rent to companies......I guess my money isn't as green as the rest. Oh well, I saved $600/ hr and still got the job.

When I got the interview, I had right around 700TT w/ 500 ME.

And AC, to answer your question, the actual "interview" w/ Mr. Colgan only lasted about 15 - 20 minutes. It was actually a 2 on 1 and they asked mostly HR type questions.....I think they want to see if you'll fit in with the company. It is a small company and it seems to me that they are looking for good people....not just a body to fill a seat. They want to know why you want to fly turboprop instead of a jet since most regionals are hiring right now.

[moxiepilot]

thanks for the gauge, i hear upgrade times are pretty short now at colgan, so I guess we should be calling you captain soon

[Captain_Bob]

Matt,

Welcome to Houston! Congratulations!!

Bob

[Cruise]

[ QUOTE ]
Matt,

Welcome to Houston! Congratulations!!

Bob

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you very much, Bob!

Doing the training at the Flight Safety by Hobby Airport.

So far, so good. Next week we start systems........from what I've heard, this is when it gets ugly......ala firehose style.

Matt

[Cruise]

[ QUOTE ]
Do you know where you will be based? They based out of IAD but not DCA? is that correct?

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't know where I'll be based yet. My class just put in our bid sheets yesterday......and from what I've heard from previous classes, odds are we won't know where we're going until near the end of sim training. The scuttlebutt is there is a new contract in the works and it could mean new bases......so, until that's determined, I think Colgan is keeping the newhire bases a mystery until absolutely necessary.


No bases in IAD or DCA.......everyone who operates in DC is based out of HEF (Manassas, VA)....they just fly empty to IAD/ DCA to start the day. Only about 10 - 20 min. flight depending on vectoring.

[GaTechKid]

My interview was almost exactly like Cruise's. I arrived at FlightSafety around 11am and immediately took the 50 question written test. Afterwards I was interviewed in a 3 on 1 with Cathy Angelo and two captains. Questions that I can think of:

Tell us about yourself, Why should we hire you over all the others, with your low time how do you feel about upgrading after everyone else, how would you feel about seeing someone hired after you upgrading before you, most challenging part of instructing, most fun part of instructing, worst day in aviation, where would you pick up the most icing in relation to a front, describe the gear system, you see the sequencing lights of the ALS so can you land, you are at this point on the approach and you are cleared for it when can you descend, do you have any questions for us

After that was the fingerprinting and drug test. Our sim was a full-motion Shorts 360 and I was one of the last to fly it. The profile was the same as Cruise described. My sim session lasted past the last departure to Chicago so Colgan paid for my hotel room that night, which was unexpected and nice. I believe they hired 9 out of the 23 who showed up at the interview. Groundschool is on Dec. 12 for the Saab 340.