Interview was held in ATL, Sunday through Tuesday. World provided space positive travel on Delta from my home airport. Everyone stayed at the Howard Johnson ATL on their own nickel for 2 nights. The first evening the chief pilot arrived at the hotel to provide an orientation about the company, its' history, life style and an overview of the benefits package. This was in a very relaxed non stressful setting. An e-mail was sent out prior to our arrival in ATL stating that NO jacket or ties are to be worn for this event. We were told that there were 3 possible outcomes for us after the interview. A phone call within a day after the interview means you're hired, a letter within a couple of weeks means "sorry, try again in a year" and no phone call or letter means you're in the pool. We were told that there were a few people in the pool but not an exact number. Also, the pool is occasionaly flushed. I'm not quite sure what gets one person put in the pool and another one hired. All I know is that the pool sounds a lot like limbo.

Day 2 (Mon) was a very full day. Start time was at 8am with about an hour long briefing which included an HR person explaining more details about the benefits, the chief pilot briefed us in detail about the days events. We were all assigned an approximate time for our individual interviews. While waiting for your turn we were handed a lot of paperwork to fill out, probably a little more than I've had in the past, also everyone was being fingerprinted while waiting to interview. This was a nice setup, because once the admin stuff was done, you could go to your room to hang out or go and get some food before your turn to interview. Much better than sitting around in some breakroom in an office staring at each other and trying to make small talk. Interviewed with the chief pilot and another line pilot, the HR person could not attend the interview that day because of family commitments. Interview lasted approx 20-30 mins. and was pretty relaxed and non-confrontational. Very few technical questions were asked, most questions were about your career, airplanes flown etc. I was asked at least 3 times if I knew anyone at all at World, I guess internal recommendations are heavily weighted, but I didn't really know anyone and was offered the job anyway. They seem to want you to be yourself as much as possible and want to know if you're someone they can be with on a 18 day trip. My only technical question was "What kind of engines are on the airplane that I currently fly." All other aviation questions were pretty general in nature. The chief pilot paged through some pages of my logbook and didn't really seem to read to deeply in to it. My logbooks aren't the best kept or neatest at all. At the end of the interview we were told to lose the monkey suit and to change into business casual dress with no tie. Hotel van took all of us to AIR Inc. for a computerized aptitude and a behavioral test. Not much to really study for these tests except maybe the math portion. A lot of the math questions were about fractions and decimals, how to add and subtract, multiply and divide and how to convert them. Total test time was close to an hour and a half. A health clinic sent a van to pick us up and take us to the clinic for our drug test. We sat in the waiting room for 90 mins. This was the only aggravating part of the interviewing process for World. After the drug test, we were cabbed back to the hotel and called it a day.

Day 3 also started at 8 am. We were given a very thorough briefing on the sim profile and on what was expected as far as our performance in the sim. This lasted about an hour or so. Hotel van took us to AIR Inc. again for the sim. The sim is a converted Frasca with a PC monitor which displays the visuals as well as the EFIS instrumentation. There is no flight director and the scan is a little awkward to those who are used to traditional EFIS displays. Also, a third thrust lever was mounted in the Frasca to try and simulate an MD-11, but it is mounted in a very awkward position and you have to be sure to not have to much differential thrust among the outboard engines. The chief pilot ran the panel and the line pilot sat in the right seat for you making all callouts and working out all of the configurations for you. The basic profile was a departure out of LAX with a few climbs turns and descents, join up on a radial off of Seal Beach VOR, then was given a couple of different holding instructions on the VOR and had to tell them what kind of entry I would do. There was no actual holding. After the VOR I was told to intercept and fly a specific bearing to an NDB. After the NDB was told to join up on the localizer and cleared for an ILS back into LAX. My landing was very ugly and probably left some large gouges in the grass on the left side of the runway. After the sim another applicant and I shared a cab to the airport for the flight home.

Overall this was a thourough no BS interview which was pretty relaxed, despite being there for 2 and a half days. Prior to the interview in ATL I was sent several e-mails telling me what to bring, an application to fill out and my hotel and travel information. Some of the things you should be prepared to bring are: 1 preferably 2 passport photos, copy of college transcripts, extra copies of updated resume, photo copy of all your airman certificates and medical and any other documentation you might think will help. I brought copies of my training records from previous airlines and a letter from NHTSA showing that I had no suspensions or DUIs on my driving record. Most of us only had a few days to get ready for the interview, so be ready. All of the people that I met so far in ATL seem like good people. I gladly accepted the job offer when I got the call.

Interview started at 9am with the HR manager giving a presentation about the company, benefits, etc. Then the chief pilot talked about the operation, trips(some 14-21 days in length). They wanted to emphasize how the airline works because he said it might not be for everyone. Word is, another MD-11 coming in Nov, and possibly B767s in 2004.

They set up, in a different conference room, 3 tables. Each with 2 pilots, either a fleet manager or assist chief pilot, chief pilot. No technical questions other than what engines were on a plane I flew 6yrs ago. Also asked if I have issues with the length of the trips, and how much glass time I had(probably because the MD-11 is all glass). It lasted about 10min. Then went into another room and talk to the HR manager. Very basic, nothing tricky, just "What do you do in your spare time, what are you doing now", etc. that was about 10min. Waited around for about 20min, they called me out to tell me if I was invited back for the sim eval the next day(I was). They gave me a ton of paperwork to fill out and told me to come back at 6pm for fingerprinting. Next morning everyone who was asked to return for the sim came for the general briefing on the profile, etc.

Two sims were gonna be used.. The L1011 and B737-200. Since I have flown the B737, they put me in the L-1011. Big airplane but very stable and easy to fly. They give you a sheet with the powersettings, and pitch attitude. The sim is very basic and they understand if you have been furloughed and haven't flown much or came from glass and now flying this old round dial airplane. Start on RWY24R. Take off, climb to 3000ft. Capt sets and controls the power until first level off. Reaching 3000ft and 250kts, they give you a left turn. They want 30degrees bank maintain 250kts. Then they climb you to 5000ft. Always maintain 250kts and a climb rate of 1000ft/min. Then ATC told me, "on that heading, intercept Seal Beach VOR 270radial, track it inbound. Since its a 90 intercept, give yourself plenty of time to lead it off so you don't blow thru the course. Once inbound, they give you a hold clearance. You will not hold but he will want to know what kind of entry and the heading you will turn to. Next is a turn to the north as well as a decent to 3000ft. Once established on the heading, they want you to intercept and track an NDB bearing. That NDB bearing is actually ROMAN on the ILS 24R approach at LAX. Once I got established he said "if I told you to get on the 240bearing, which way will you turn?". Then comes a small vector for the approach. The capt will configure the plane as needed. You do not have to make any call outs. ATC will slow you down to 140kts so you will be fully configured and onspeed before hitting the marker. You will break out at about 800AGL. Now land. L1011 gouge is at 50ft(capt call out), power off and pitch up 2degrees and hold it!. Make sure you stay on the centerline and land within the touchdown zone and that is it. Takes about 15-20min. We go in groups of 3 and I was first to go. I had to sit and watch the other 2 guys.

They told me I should get a call within 2 weeks with a class or a letter (rejection). If you have glass time, chances are you will get the MD-11. If not, or have low time, chances are FE on the DC-10(which they have a few slots open for from what I was told)

Good luck! They are a great bunch of people, making money, getting new contracts!