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What may be the issue is the forward belly freight. When the load team doesn't communicate well, they may end up with freight on the main deck aft of the CG. The guys unloading the forward belly (forward of CG) do that too quickly and eventually gravity wins. I've seen this happen a few times. I was working at another cargo carrier (before FedEx) on a layover in Anchorage. My Captain called me and said "turn on Fox News". So, I do and there's the aircraft we're supposed to take to Taipei in 18 hours at LAX looking just like that 747. "Ah..yeah, I guess our ANC layover just got a bit longer." 6000 lb pallet of stuff that was half-way to the door rolled back during the tilt and almost killed a guy who dove out of the way plus did big time damage to the aft bulkhead and a/c structure. Most cargo outfits have a tailstand, a weight cart attached to the nose gear or a strap running through the nose gear anchored to eye-bolts in the concrete during loading/unloading to avoid this. The 777F has the main deck door aft of the wing, so all the main deck freight is loaded and unloaded from front to back. Pretty much impossible to put one on the tail doing it that way (but you'll still never see one of ours without a strap or weight cart).

When I was a mid-level Captain I had two majors (solid dudes) on the CAG staff try to give me career mentoring, the secret to success...PCS your way to any HAF job and find an exec position as fast as you can to ensure future success. I thought at the time, WTFO this is crazy talk and maybe borderline desperate. But you know what? It's the correct strategy (if promotion is your priority) and I really appreciate the dudes for willing to share the secret recipe with me (no I didn't follow their advice). This is for a non-rated ops AFSC, but probably works for everyone.

Since most people like to reference the proverbial "made-man", I can attest that the opposite is also true. I.e. I have seen cases where someone with DG's from every level (USAFA/ROTC, UPT, SOS), #1 strat's at the sqd/grp/wg level, high-level awards, selected 1st look for school to a highly competitive fellowship program loses out, on BTZ promotion board to O-5, to a pretty decent "average" officer sans all the glitzy stuff mentioned above because the average guy was an exec for a GO just before the promotion board. These examples highlight that the "made-man" theory is less about DGs/strats/awards than it is about who you know and when you knew them. Bottom line: I believe a lot of our frustrations can be traced to a mismanaged meritocracy. However, I have a hard time believing it could be less subjective in the civilian sector.

Which is a little disheartening, because the more folks that figure that out, the fewer folks will be willing to put in the hours once you miss the first gate. Didn't DG out of SOS? Might as well quit now, because the guy that did will get the IDE slot, staff, and command.

Not in-res IDE grad, but I completed two squadron commands without going in-res. If one can command without going in-res, it can’t be that important.

Move the aft load forward before you off load the front stuff. Put the heavier stuff in the middle. Tailstand. Etc.

Yep, all these media companies think the breaking off Netflix/Hulu/Amazon into separate $10 a month services is going to get people to subscribe and not pirate. Bold move...

Multi-ethnic operations?

Lick on tattoos.

Almost as bad as this... https://theaviationist.com/2019/03/09/really-bad-african-paratroops-demonstrate-every-jump-ramp-error-in-one-jump/

The movie has been out for a while now, but First Man is so underrated in my opinion. Not a typical sexy Hollywood movie, but it features a lot of quality actors, great acting, and many many memorable scenes. The thing that resonated with me the most is the dangers and the pains associated with the flight test community. I still remember the roads at Edwards named after the test pilots. Brought back memories of sitting through the TRBs and SRBs, and the pre-briefs before stepping... Can't stop watching this sequence over and over again.

Given that the execs are likely already the DP, #1/xx, etc... They were already going to school. Why would a WG/CC use his only leverage to get a good dude on the bubble for school a slot to send someone who already had a lock on it? Alternatively, if every WG/CC gives this to their exec - it takes those execs out of the boarding process, meaning everyone else no longer has to compete with those shiny pennies.

It's not only the nuances. It's the fact that in many support jobs, just staying in long enough to hit a 1 BPZ or IPZ board is enough to get squadron command. Then we rack-and-stack pilots who are flight commanders or ADOs against support officers in command and wonder why the aviator promotion rates lag the support officer promotion rates.

I’m having a hard time recalling a single time that promotion results were released before the AFPC estimate. I’d go with that.

Since Hacker brought up the Regionals, I'll add some more (current) information, since I think the incredibly recent turn of the Regional industry (read, last two years) is going to be the nail in the coffin for the Guard/Reserve side of the house. I'm a Guard baby (Captain) and quickly got sick of only being able to snag 150-300 hours of flying time a year, due to the increased AD-Lite mentality of the Guard and all the extra admin duties and responsibilities that get thrown on you. I snagged a job at a Regional (that takes me an hour-and-fifteen-minutes to get to the employee parking lot) just after they more than doubled pay from what Hacker was talking about. Since that time two years ago, two-to-four other Regionals have jumped their pay WAY up... Endeavor is currently leading the way with $50/hr first year FO, $60/hr second year FO, and $93/hr third year CA pay. In 2018 I deployed for a couple/few months, took a two month AGR gig, and flew the line at the Regional as an FO... I live in my Guard city, take a short drive to the airline, and between the two gigs I made $100,000 and blocked ~700 hours... Let me reiterate, I'm an FO at a REGIONAL. They're FORCE upgrading people here at like 18 months (due to the shortages), so by the time I upgrade to the higher money in a couple months, I'll already be able to hold a line in domicile, due to all the guys junior to me already being forced to the left seat. I was doing the math with the CA I'm flying with on this trip yesterday, and (assuming I do the minimum AFTP/RUTA count for 2019 and maybe another month's worth of Orders at some point, and then upgrade around April) I'll probably make close to $120,000. This guy's a LCA who drops trips every month and he makes $120K. Add the minimum amount of Guard work and you're pushing $150,000... at a REGIONAL. Just wanted to throw that out there, because I keep trying to tell my leadership that THIS may be an even greater threat to our ranks than the imminent mainline hiring... I know we're losing senior IP/EP types, but what's going to happen when that trend continues, and then the young guys are bouncing AS WELL? No longer is it a huge pay-cut for the younger Lt's/Captains to hit the Regionals for the block hours. It's a pay bump (not to mention a GUARANTEED paycheck vs. Guard bumming), and it's infinitely easier to build those hours as well. I'm doing 85 block this month, and 90 next month. I was the high-time pilot in the Squadron at one point this year with 75 hours... in three months. Big AF, the Guard, and the Reserve have no idea...

Troll is gone and posts are cleaned up. Back to a useful discussion about the flawless promotion system in the AF.....

"No issues for them" but how about those who hope to follow them. I'd think a little bit about dropping that grenade at the bottom of the ladder and pulling it up behind you just to avoid being junior. If you get activated, that's different. If you go into it planning to walk away after day one of indoc or after probation is over, you stand to hose a lot of buds who may be trying to follow your path. Maybe you'll be a number lost in the current hiring wave at some of the biggies - maybe not. It's been a clear trend over the last few years at FedEx (maybe other airlines - can't say for certain) that their enthusiasm for hiring current guard/reserve pilots has diminished significantly. USERRA protects current employees - it doesn't guarantee someone will get hired if a particular airline has had enough of their current pilots dropping 5 years of orders. Not too difficult to find a reason not to hire someone without admitting it might be to avoid hiring an empty uniform for the next 5 years. Just food for thought.

Anybody on here recently hired by airlines with close to min time for their requirements? Curious to see hour numbers and type aircraft flown of mil peeps getting hired.

I prefer manually pinging G2 and the scheduling Lt to improve my schedule. Much more interactive that way.

Just relax and be yourself. My personal 0.02 is not to get too wrapped up with your interview Q&A. I did ECIC, but elected not to do the phone follow up because I didn't want to come off as having canned answers. Rather than try to think of stories for every possible TMAAT scenario, I tried to pick 6-9 stories that each covered several question areas so I could apply one to a number of different questions. Below is what I summarized for the AA hiring process to several people who followed me. I have attached a close version of the cognitive test they use. ------------------------------- Here’s a bit of a timeline of what you can expect during the application / hiring process. For me it was about six months from when I submitted my application to when I received an email for a video interview, but this was in mid-2015 when the high number of furlough recalls and flow-through guys caused them to stop interviewing for a while. The first response you'll get is an email from AA Support Department (aasupport@pilotcredentials.com) asking you to do a video interview. Make sure you check your junk mail regularly and/or add that e-mail to your filters. I've heard of lots of folks who missed notifications that went to junk mail. You have a few days to do the video interview. If you already have your suit, wear it. If you don't, at least wear a nice shirt and tie. Do it against a neutral background and remove any distractions (wife, kids, pets, turn off phones, etc.). Have a piece of paper and pen handy. It's not an interview per se, you'll be asked five pre-recorded questions and after a 60 second prep period to compose your answer, it will start recording and you'll give your answer (which can be up to three minutes). If you don't already read Airline Pilot Forums, I would recommend it. There are a lot of topics, but for American there is long running thread about the interview process. Here is my best memory at the expanded video interview questions: 1 - "Why do you want to fly with AA?" 2 – You are given a brief about an approach (frequencies, altitudes, runways, etc.). You’re not specifically told to write it down, but you’re told to have a pen/pencil and paper beforehand, so I recommend writing it down as it’s being given to you. When you brief it back, try not to make it too obvious that you’re reading it from the paper. 4 – I was given a notional airport and five NOTAMs about the airport. You needed to pick your top 3 concerns and brief why they might be a problem. I don’t remember them all, but the ones I picked were nearby VFR traffic (might be a hazard, especially if they’re not talking to anybody or on flight following), tendency to be switch to a different runway on final (potential for runway incursion/violation), and potential for fog to pop up (possibility to have to hold or divert with short notice). 5 - TMAAT you had to deal with a delay with customers. I explained that I have never dealt with it in a traditional sense, but that my job as a fighter pilot was always to be in place on time to support troops on the ground (my customers). I explained having had weather delays while flying commercial, and chatting up other folks who were likewise delayed and explaining that it was beyond the control of the airline. Most folks consider the video interview a formality - they just want to make sure you don't have three eyes, and you can compose a few sentences and not sound like a bumbling idiot. About two weeks after the video interview is done you should receive an email from the AA support department asking you to input additional info (SSN, DOB) into Pilot Credentials (check your junk mail). I'm guessing they start your background checks with this info. A week after I entered the info I received a call for a face to face interview. The interview is a two day process and they will get you a round trip flight and hotel. The first day is business casual (slacks and a collared shirt). They collect your paperwork and give you a cognitive test called Pilot Skills Test. It seems very similar to Delta's test, however, the unofficial word is that these tests are a data point for reference only and it does not affect your outcome. They are designed to test you to failure - I felt drained and like I failed by the time it was complete (it's about four hours total). The attached PPT covers what you can expect to see. Second day is the interview process. They read from scripts and a list of questions, but it still led to a good amount of back and forth and seemed very casual once we started going. The first interview is with a pilot crew - one Captain and one FO in most situations. They start with introductions of themselves and don't ask about your background (they have studied your resume and will tell you what you did...."So when you were flying XXXX at XXXXX, tell me about....") Here's the questions I got... TMAAT you had a crew member give you criticism you didn't like or didn't think was warranted. Tell me how important communication is, how you communicate and break down barriers to communication. TMAAT you intervened in something flying related that you thought was unsafe. TMAAT you didn't get along with somebody TMAAT you disagreed with a policy Then they went to scenarios. They had a 3x5 spiral notebook with what I'd guess was at least 20 scenarios. They picked three total, and for each one they read it aloud and gave me as much time as I wanted to think. During my response, it was somewhat interactive - I feel like it was supposed to cover several areas of responses, and if I was missing something, they would give me a prod in the right direction. My Scenarios: - You're holding #3 for takeoff on runway 27 with a thunderstorm six miles off the field to the west. An aircraft taking off requests an immediate turn to 180 to avoid the storm. An aircraft landing on 33 reports windshear on final and loss of 15 knots. Winds are 290 at 15G23. Now you're #1 and cleared for takeoff - WWYD? I tried to gather as much SA on the weather from available resources (departing aircraft, weather, dispatch), and after conferring with the FO the decision was basically that if we could do it safely, we would take off. If there was any doubt that the weather (thunderstorms and windshear) were going to be a factor, we would delay on the ground. When I directed all my attention to taking off (or not taking off) from runway 27, one of my guys said, "What about runway 33?" which prompted a few more points of discussion since it wasn't a takeoff directly into the storm. - You're at FL350 going into JFK and you're at the point where you need to descend. Weather is right at CAT I mins at JFK and very low at nearby alternates. You query the controllers and get no response, and when you go back to your previous frequency you likewise get no response. You're doing 530 GS - WWYD? I basically ran NORDO procedures in detail from approach to rollout. - Third scenario was that you show up to the gate as the Captain and find that the aircraft has a hydraulic malfunction that is going to delay it for 3.5 hours. I said I would standby the gate crew as they made announcement (or make it myself if they weren't around to do it), then be ready to calm down angry passengers. They asked how I was going to calm people down; explain that I had the same interest in getting home - maybe it was my last flight of the day and I want to get home to see my family - but I can't have my passengers on an unsafe aircraft. Try to coordinate for alternate flights with open seats, maybe a standby aircraft. Keep in touch with MX for the status. Regarding the information or wait time, they asked if I would lie to the passengers to calm folks down, and I told them absolutely not. The next was a one-on-one HR portion that seemed very (almost too) short with only two questions and a little paperwork. - For the first question, she took out the first (NORDO) scenario from my previous interview and said, "I'm not a pilot, tell me what this scenario means in layman's terms." I dumbed it down to civil speak and there was no follow up discussion. - Question 2 "What are the factors that affect airline profitability?" This seemed completely out of left field, so I stumbled for a bit, but then talked about the number of airplanes, routes, and pilots. Talked about assessing routes and streamlining or removing routes were passenger numbers were low. I mentioned the recent US Airways merger and combining forces., as well as gas prices I didn't feel like my answer was great, but I couldn't gauge her impression on my answer. AA Cognitive Test V4.pptx