Anything they’d let me! I was looking for my first flying job.

Martin, I’ve trawled back through my archives and found a copy of my application form for Gill Airways in the mid/late 90’s. They asked some written questions which would probably be quite similar to those OATS might ask on Monday. I’ll paste the questions and my answers below…

Aviation responsibility – Please give evidence of an occasion when a process has gone wrong/not worked that has required you to exercise your management skills effectively.

While working as a gliding instructor one of my colleagues students had a serious accident when flying solo. We rushed over to the scene to find her in considerable distress requiring medical attention. As the senior instructor on the field at the time I contacted the emergency services who arranged for the medevac helicopter to arrive on the scene. This naturally attracted a lot of attention from the public, followed very quickly by the press. While the services took over dealing with the injured pilot I was then able to direct the looking after of the fellow club members and fielding the highly obtrusive press. Several of the attending club members provided excellent support and I was able to use them effectively later on to protect the scene until permission had been received to remove the aircraft.
This occurrence was certainly the least favourite in my flying history but represents a very important learning experience.

Communication – Give an example of an experience that demonstrates your ability to communicate effectively with others.

As a senior member of cabin crew for Virgin Atlantic I frequently operate in the role of Purser. The rapid expansion of the company over the last few years has required a lot of guidance for inexperienced and sometimes very young new crew who are still finding their feet in a very different working environment. Completing services to a high standard within a very restricted time demands total integration between the crew themselves and the person managing them. A lack of faith in the Purser will always be apparent to a passenger in the cabin, so the right atmosphere must be established from the beginning.
During an outbound transatlantic six months ago a man in his mid thirties who was travelling with his two young children complained of chest pains to one of my crew members. I arranged for the defibrillator to be discretely brought and located the Inflight Supervisor who is trained in using it while the crew provided first aid. Another crew member took care of the children, who were fortunately were not really old enough to be aware of what was really happening while I relayed the situation back to Operations via ACARS.
The passenger did have a mild heart attack but did not enter ventricular fibrillation so fortunately the defib did not have to be used.

Leadership & team working – The ability to work effectively as part of a multi-disciplinary team is essential for Gill Airways flight crew. Give an example of an experience or achievement that demonstrates your ability to work effectively using the principles of crew resource management.

On a San Francisco trip last year a friend of mine with a new PPL asked me to accompany him while he went flying. During the day we visited a GA airfield not far from the Golden Gate Bridge where we planned to make a final stop before returning to base. While taxiing out for the return we noticed that the surface wind had reversed, compromising our safety. My friend became rather flustered, not sure whether he could question the controllers. We discussed the situation for a short while and decided to request use of the reciprocal, only to receive a rather irritated reply stating that they were not aware of any wind reversal and changing runway direction would cause them to have to redirect current circuit traffic. My colleague could no longer cope with the decision making so we agreed that he would fly the aeroplane while I would negotiate with the controllers, which relaxed him immediately. We restated our request and reluctantly they changed circuit direction.
The departure from our chosen runway was standard apart from a rather brusque handover from the airfield controller. We were a little slow changing frequency as my friend was dealing with some turbulence during the climb out but overheard the same controller informing all traffic there was a 15 knot wind blowing straight down our chosen runway.

Customer responsiveness/business focus – Gill Airways is a customer-led airline. What in your previous experience enables you to respond to our customers needs? What contribution have you made to the overall effectiveness of a previous employer?

Customer care has formed the basis of my work for the last eight years. I am very fortunate to have been employed by a company that is held in very high regard for its standard of customer service and success through expansion. This opportunity has given me superb first hand experience in dealing with passengers and integrating with fellow crew members on a day to day basis. I enjoy an excellent relationship with my current employers who are very interested in encouraging keen individuals. A couple of years ago I was asked to appear in a US TV commercial representing Virgin’s Upper Class product. Next month, I have been selected (from nearly 3000 crew) to attend the British Embassy Ball in Tokyo, accompanying Richard Branson, to be introduced to the Japanese royal family and be filmed on Japanese TV and covered by the press. This is an immense privilege for me and a great show of faith by my company with respect to the political correctness demanded by Japanese affairs.

Personal Motivation – Please indicate why you wish to join Gill Airways. What can you contribute to the company?

Having worked in the aviation industry for ten years I have had the opportunity to track Gill Airways success through the ten year period as a scheduled operator. During this time the company appears to have gone from strength to strength. The arrival of the Fokker 100’s will undoubtedly make the company an even more significant player in the field. Research shows strong links to companies such as Air France and Royal Mail, which must signify a high regard within industry.
From the piloting perspective, Gill Airways offers an ideal fleet structure with the Shorts 360, ATR’s and Fokkers for a motivated applicant to establish a career offering glass cockpit and jet operation.
I believe I can contribute to the company a mature, professional outlook backed by a ten year knowledge of the airline industry and operations.

I hope the above is of use to you Martin. The important thing is to have an example in hand and to always have a positive outcome.

Regards
wys

It’s Mahon today Charley!

The Greek islands would generally go on a DVR SID unless the weather patterns meant a more southerly routing in which case it would be a SFD off 08R or late evening on 26L otherwise earlier in the day a BOGNA SID off 26L. DVR departures off 08R usually hand over to 120.52, then 134.9, then Maastricht on 132.205.

Regards
wys
2 manky Devon Rex cats (Mickey and Daisy)

Agree fully about the nerves. It’s a very difficult thing to control because deep down you know that the outcome of a couple of hours testing will affect the entire rest of your life and that of your future family. I would suggest that you eat a proper breakfast at the start of the day to ensure your blood sugar level is right. Blood sugar plays such an important part when it comes to forming balanced, rational decisions and your whole approach to everything. I fully agree that you should have a certain amount of nerves. This is the sign that you really want it and if you weren’t I don’t think I’d want you sitting next to me on a flightdeck. Your dedication is unquestionable and this alone will carry you much of the way.

One very important thing to remember is that although the other guys and girls are the competition, they are also your future team members and flying a commercial aircraft is a 2 person job. You must REALLY show support for the other applicants, that one fact alone will massively boost your position in the assessors eyes. If you do some team exercises (which are almost guaranteed) do try and be up front but make a real effort to draw in the people in the group who are being quiet. A great thing to do is to come up with a good idea and than say ‘how does everyone feel about that?’.

A current favourite among team exercises is to split you into small groups of 4 or 5 and give you a scenario such as being stuck on a desert island. They will give you a list of 15 survival items. You will usually get 5 minutes to number them individually in order of priority before the group gets back together to do the same thing collectively. The idea (amongst other things) is to see how much better you work as a time rather than as individuals. Afterwards they will probably tell you the list that was drawn up by SAS survival specialists for the same scenario. The actual results are largely irrelevant but it has given the managers, Human Resources and Psychologists an insight into how you work in a team.

At some point you will have a 1:1 or 2:1 interview. You must prepare a whole selection of experiences from your life that you can drop into any answer at a drop of a hat. Don’t tailor them too much to one particular scenario so that you can adapt them to fit. For example, have ready of an example of –
1) a situation that required you to take on responsibility
2) a time when you had to lead
3) an example of working under pressure
etc, etc
You will need more than just a one sentence answer as they will expect you to be able to expand on most things. You must watch out for catch questions as well. They will probably ask something like ‘Tell us about a time when someone let you down’. In this case you need to be able to give a situation where you were ‘mildly dissappointed’ by someones actions but then come to the fore to say how you worked with that person to turn it round into a great result. This is where the real skill comes in, turning a negative into a positive. On that note, no matter how much you may hate your current/former school/employer/etc you must not let that come accross. It is ok to say that you might prefer certain things to occur differently but finish on something like ‘…but I must bear in mind that ***** ltd have given me the opportunity to further myself more than I could have hoped…’ or something like that.

Regards
wys