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Hawaiian Airlines Pilot Interview Profiles

Date Interviewed: April 2017
Summary of Qualifications: 8000 Turbin, 1400 TPIC, FAA AND EASA EXP, FOUR YEAR DEGREE, CURRENTLY ON A B-737 INTERNATIONAL FLYING, EX-MIL
Were you offered the job? Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
BEFORE I START, PLEASE REFER TO THE APRIL 2016 GOUGE, ITS VERY DESCRIPTIVE AND THATS HOW MOST OF THE INTERVIEW WILL PROGRESS. SOMETHING TO ADD TO THAT GOUGE IS THAT THEY WILL FLY YOU TO HNL AND PUT YOU UP IN A NICE HOTEL.

AMAZING EXPERIENCE, GENUINE FOLKS, BEST ADVISE - RELAX AND BE YOUR BEST, THEY ARE LOOKING FOR GOOD PERSONALITIES AND THEY ARE GOOD AT FINDING THEM. I HAVE INTERVIEWED AROUND THE WORLD BUT HAVE NEVER HAD SUCH A RELAXED, NON-THREAT ENVIRONMENT TO INTERVIEW INTO.

INTERVIEW IS COMPRISED OF FOUR STAGES:

PANEL INTERVIEW:4 PILOTS
MANAGEMENT INTERVIEW: 4 MANAGEMENT GUYS
SIM EVAL: PC BASED MD80 SIM, SUPER STABLE AND EASY TO FLY
COGNITIVE TESTING

THEY ARE GEARING UP FOR THE A321 DELIVERIES, ADDITIONAL A330'S AND A BIT OF ATTRITION. LOTS OF HIRING IS SUPPOSED TO GO ON THROUGH THIS YEAR INTO THE NEXT YEAR. GOOD TIME TO GET ON WITH THEM.

GOOD LUCK!
Date Interviewed: April 2016
Summary of Qualifications: 4600 TT, 3000 TT JET PART 121, 1600 TT PIC JET, Current Regional Captain, CFI/CFII/MEI/Gold Seal, and 4 Year College Degree.
Were you offered the job? Yes
Pilot Interview Profile:
Accepted the interview after applying when Hawaiian's window was open. Was sent a schedule of how the interview would take place in Honolulu at their world headquarters. You will be responsible to fly yourself out and back from Honolulu plus your own accommodations while in Honolulu too. I myself turned it into a mini vacation, and it gave me a chance to immerse myself into the Hawaiian cultural which is a big part of their interview process. Also, the interview is a one day long event too.

Overview

Showed up in the morning to the headquarters at Honolulu airport. Checked in, and sat down and waited to be called back. Was taken into a room to meet the other interviewees, and it was split between civilian and military pilots. I Was also given a nice gift bag from Hawaiian Airlines for their appreciation of us showing up to interview.

Hawaiian Airlines is entering a phase of growth which 16 A321 NEO's are coming on line in 2017 which will be likely used for West Coast Operations. They also plan on retiring the 767 by 2020 too. They are interviewing 170 this round, will hire everybody if they pass the interview, and that is much different from the past when they would interview 60 candidates for 10 spots. They want to add about 400 plus pilots to make the seniority list over 1,000 pilots. If you want to work at Hawaiian Airlines you will have a very good opportunity in the future. I honestly had zero ties and zero connections as I just applied thinking I would get TBNT email for the interview.

Pilot Panel Interview

Very laid back, and everybody was wearing Hawaiian shirts which was nice and very relaxing. About 30 mins long, low threat environment, and here are some questions they asked.

-Tell us about yourself.
-Why Hawaiian.
-Tell about a funny story.
-What does aloha mean to you.
-Why Hawaiian over everybody else when the other majors are hiring.
-What is your favorite aircraft, and why it is your favorite.
-What will be a challenge about working at Hawaiian Airlines.
-What are the positives and negatives of your current job.

Management Interview

Again a very laid back interview. It was conducted with chief pilots Brian Beres, Peter Clark and 2 other management pilots. About 30 mins long too, and very low threat environment. Gave a brief overview of Hawaiian Airlines and wear Hawaiian is going in the future. Some questions they asked.

-Tell us about yourself.
-What is the history of Hawaiian Airlines.
-What plane would you pick and why.
-Have you applied here before.
-Tell us about a time you used CRM.
-How can we trust you will stay at Hawaiian and not leave when all the other majors are hiring.
-Tell us about a negative CRM story.
-Who would you invite to your dream dinner and why.

Simulator Evaluation

You will watch a 10 minute brief on a computer, and then the be called into the hot seat. It is a MD-80 computer top sim. You will likely have a retired pilot running the sim, be evaluated by 2 current management pilots, and a current Hawaiian pilot in the right seat helping you out. It is more of a CRM exercise then a evaluation of your flying skills. Again a low threat environment.

-Takeoff and join the departure, and you likely track a radial outbound to join. During this time you will get your auto-throttles and autopilot on line to use.
-You will have emergency or a mechanical issue which will make you come back.
-Make sure to hand the plane and he radios to the copilot.
-Make sure to talk to MX, Dispatch, FA's, Passengers, and the Co=Pilot to ask his opinion on the situation.
-Have also been told to know the different Threat
levels as well.
-You likely enter holding, and just tell the co-pilot how to enter and fly it. Make sure to announce the time, altitude, and that your entering the hold. Also calculate bingo fuel, and tell the FA's.
-Brief the ILS once all this in done.
-They will have you hand fly the ILS once you are established on the localizer.
-The sim is super stable and a breeze to hand fly, and you will break out above mins and land. Just follow the flight director and you will be okay. That is the whole sim evaluation.
-They will ask you to de-brief yourself, and they will de-brief if they need too.

Cognitive testing

-About an hour long
-Used luminosity to prepare
-Very similar to the Delta, Compass, and Express Jet Cognitive testing
-Just relax and your best

During lunch hour all the interviewees will have lunch at the Lunch Box which is the employee cafeteria at Hawaiian headquarters. The Chiefs, Management pilots, and regular line pilots will have lunch with you. It is a great opportunity to get to know the other pilots and immerse yourself in the Hawaiian Airlines cultural.

Once you have completed both panel interviews, sim ride, cognitive testing, and lunch you are free to go.

Overall Experience

Hawaiian airlines seems like a great company with some great people. It seems like personality plays a lot into their cultural, and they want to see it in the interview. It was a very enjoyable interview experience, and a very low threat environment which is a welcome change from other airlines hiring practices. Super excited to join the team at Hawaiian Airlines, and I hope this helps you at out too!
Date Interviewed: July 2011
Summary of Qualifications: 5000+ hours Total, mostly TT SIC
Were you offered the job? Don't Know
Pilot Interview Profile:
HA Interview

Day 1
Walked in early, everyone’s times are staggered but since we all showed early, they started as you came.
Were given an incident scenario you had to fill out a report for, basic, had to know Zulu time for the interview day. They supposedly do this because they found out half of their captains do it wrong, but if you’re not trained on it, you’re just guessing on it anyway…
Got taken for sim, they let you review a booklet ahead of time, you don’t have to memorize it or anything, just gives you the basics for the sim so you know what you’re flying, speeds, etc. One guy runs it, the other is your FO, so you can use him as a tool, they put your gear/flaps down, tune and ID, etc.
Basic computer screen, round dials, supposed to be DC-9, it’s way pitch sensitive. No rudder, tracks straight on the runway for takeoff.
You take off, climb to 5000’ out of KLAS, level out, two 180 degree steep turns on a cardinal heading. Was then vectored on the South side of the localizer.
Given direct BLD VOR, have RMI to start, then intercept a radial to, about 23 miles out, and a hold. Had my FO fly so I could figure out entry, took it again prior to entry. Was direct entry, did one turn in holding and once I started the outbound turn again, was given radar vectors to the ILS. Flew ILS to landing, broke out about 300’ AGL, landed.
Meet and greet with CP, casual, “state of the airline,” plans for it. Then let us know they want us to have a good experience, they didn’t bring us there to weed us out, they need people. Questions for him.?
Panel interview, two 717 captains, dispatcher, head of FA’s. Face to face, you facing them:
Do you visit HI often, what a/c would you pick, what if you got the 717 – how would that change your plans? Tell us how you got your start in flying, if we don’t hire you, where do you see yourself in five years, are you applying anywhere else, have you applied before, why not, what is the most difficult crew you’ve had to deal with, any chance of upgrading at your company, what do you look forward to most about being a captain, failed checkrides, accidents/incidents, letters, why should we hire you instead of the other 2000 applicants, why HA, any international or trans-pacific flying…
Day 2
All 30-some applicants were gradually escorted into a room with tables/chairs facing front. Written, timed tests with psychologist attending.
Verbal (word matching, complete a sentence), simpler math problems. Verbal test, then a really hard math test with fractions, train leaves a station, etc, not enough time to finish for anyone!
Last was an un-timed personality evaluation with 250 questions /statements you had to strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, or strongly disagree with. “I enjoy rides such as roller coasters, I often get stressed out and can’t handle it, people usually like me when I first meet them,” etc.
Were given a break, broken into several groups with even numbers, alphabetical order, U shape with chairs facing table with three people, one or two HR, and one retired captain.
Turn to your neighbor for five minutes, get to know each other, then introduce them to the group and tell them a bit about that person.
They had a Harry Potter style hat with statements you had to pick and answer like, “What does customer service mean to you, what constitutes team work, what is the most difficult change you’ve had to adjust to in your life, what is the biggest risk you’ve ever taken in your life…”
Went over mission statement, what stands out to you, went over HA’s values, encouraged to speak up about what things meant.

They are notoriously slow about getting back to you about whether or not they want you back for day 3, when they do a last psychological test, which unless you bomb you have the job, so I don’t know yet. Agonizing!
Date Interviewed: July 2010
Summary of Qualifications: current employee of Hawaiian
Were you offered the job? Don't Know
Pilot Interview Profile:
I was hired in 2001. Reading the previous interviews they were correct. As of today, Human Remains has got there hand on the strings now. So, if you get an interview please find a friend of a friend, as see if they know anyone who has interview in the last 6-8 months. My advise for the current process if limited. Hawaiian is a good company to work for. It has its ups and down but overall it's good.
Date Interviewed: June 2010
Summary of Qualifications: 6000Hrs, Multiple types, several internal Recs
Were you offered the job? Don't Know
Pilot Interview Profile:
I originally interviewed with Hawaiian 2009. Very exciting to get the interview as it has been my number one choice for years. 3 weeks after my original application I received a call from HR for an interview. Take note that I was notified of this interview with 2 days prior notice. At no point was it indicated that I would be positive spaced to HNL from my home on the mainland or reimbursed for any hotel expenses for the interview process.

I took this as a test of my desire to be part of HA as a pilot....

Day 1.

Met in the lobby of their HR department. I noticed some other applicants waiting for their turn to interview. I was given a small inventory to read which required me to fill out a mock discrepancy report. Certainly something my 4th grade child could have successfully completed. After some small talk with a couple of other applicants an HR lady posing as a secretary came up to me and told me good job for interacting with the other applicants as I was being tested and watched without my knowledge.
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