EJ INTV Flashcards
Why do you want to work for easyjet?
I’ve always aspired to fly for easyjet. It’s the airline that has been most visible to me, I’ve flown on easyjet a lot more than any other airline and it was on easyjet aircraft that I grew up and my passion of aviation really became apparent. Seeing the A320’s, seeing the easyjet livery and the pilots in their uniform inspired me and motivated me. Throughout ground school I had a model easyjet A320 on my desk, and on those late evenings, I would look at it and it would motivate me to do that extra half an hour of work to achieve the results I wanted. My vision and imagination of being a pilot is tinted with orange and has been formed from many years of flying on easyJet aircraft. Not only has it been such a part of my life, it has formed part of many peoples as it has grown over the last 20 years and continues to grow at around 7% every year. Proving it is here to stay and leading the industry in the fight against climate change with the new airbus NEO aircraft. I want to work for a reliable, stable and growing company where I can make a positive difference throughout a long and hopefully successful career, and easyjet is exactly the place I want to do that.
Why do you want to become a pilot?
My passion for aviation came in a very different way to most people. From a young age I was scared of flying and very nervous on passenger aircraft. At around 10 years old this fear turned into more of a fascination. I wanted to know everything there was to know about aviation -What the noises were, what the flaps do, what’s the sinking feeling after takeoff. I started reading lots of books, watching documentaries and learning as much as I could about aviation and the industry. This is where my passion began. After flying for multiple years now, revising and sitting through ground school I have realised how fitting a career as a pilot really is for me. Its everything I’ve always found fascinating, combined into one industry. Throughout my life I have always been interested in engineering and technology, cars engines and aviation certainly has a lot of that, and it continues to push the boundaries of technology both inside and outside the cockpit
What will you most enjoy about working as a pilot?
- Enjoy learning a lot of new content about the aircraft technical side
- But ultimately, I think the most enjoyable thing will be meeting new people, and learning off very experienced pilots and creating a network.
What will you struggle with when first becoming a pilot?
- I think learning all the SOPs and aircraft technical knowledge as well as flows and memory items will be very challenging
- I enjoy a high workload and feel I work better when I know I have more to do
- Although I know this will be a high workload and a lot of revision/work to do, I find it very rewarding when I feel knowledgeable about a topic/subject.
How have you shown growth?
S- In 2018 I decided to move to Australia for a year to work in a hospitality venue.
T at the age of 19, moving to the other side of the world on my own, were I didn’t know anyone at all was extremely daunting to me and that’s part of the reason I did it. Everyone I knew went travelling in a group, however I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, and I feel going alone was the only way to do this. I wanted to become more confident and wanted to get better at speaking to people and working with new people in a completely environment.
A- Upon arriving I walked throughout the city handing in my CV to every venue I could. I quicky found a job at a large venue on Southbank in the middle of Melbourne city centre. I signed up to a local sports team as another avenue of meeting people. I made great friends and actually ended up travelling the east coast of Australia with a colleague I met at the Bar and were still in contact to this day.
R Although I was initially nervous about going I’m extremely glad I did. I learnt so much about myself, and as a person developed a huge amount. I learnt more about myself and more life skills in that year than I ever have before and it gave me a huge amount of confidence. When I got my current role as a flight safety analyst in leeds I had no trouble moving to the other end of the country where I didn’t know anyone. Joined sports teams in leeds and picked up a weekend bar shift to meet people
What can you tell me about EasyJet pilot responsibilities?
- Maintain a friendly, professional and safe workplace.
- Be punctual and uphold a smart image.
- Be warm and welcoming
- Every day is different with different challenges so work to overcome them as a team
- Make a positive difference to customers and the airline
What makes a good FO/SO:
- Safety focused
- Desire to learn, and improve weaknesses to grow
- Willing to follow SOP’s and procedures but speak up you disagree or think a decision is unsafe.
- Have a business mindset and be company focussed- fuel, customer service etc
- Loyalty
What is your biggest weakness?
Biggest weakness is being overcritical in some situations, can sometimes lead me to believe that my performance was worse than it was. Only when given feedback I realise it was actually good. EX.MCC
What decisions can an FO make to make/ save the company money?
- Single engine taxi if SOP’s allow
- Constant descent final approaches
- Reduce APU burn
- Flight the planned route/ level
- Fly the cost index
- Improve customer service to gain repeat custom
Challenges faced by easyjet atm
- Entered the holiday market so strong competition from JET2 and TUI
- Fires across Europe- This week saw £700m wiped off the London listed airline stocks which could be a threat moving forward
- Easyjets share price reduced almost 5%
When have you improved customer experience?
S – During current role as a flight safety analyst we deal with crew that have submitted an ASR. Occasionally when we are investigating an event we require information from ATC or other airports which may be down route in Europe. This means we are often waiting a long time for responses from these units.
T -I noticed that this may feel like a bit of a black hole for crew that have submitted an ASR, and heard nothing back for a long period of time, 1 or 2 weeks.
A – I felt we needed to keep the crew updated if we knew we were going to be waiting a while for a response from an ATC unit or aerodrome down route. I suggested to the team that we should send out an email after 3 and 7 days, updating them that we have received and investigating their ASR, however there may be a wait while we seek information from other units.
R – I believe that this improved ‘customer service’ for flight crew and took away the feeling that submitting the ASR was ‘pointless’. We received multiple emails thanking us for the update.
R – I think doing this had a positive effect and helped our department maintain a positive culture for safety reporting.
A time you went above and beyond for a customer?
- S-During my extensive time in hospitality, I worked at the manor house, a 14C luxury hotel and Michelin star restaurant. There was a local pub which many guests would dine in on one of their nights, as a bit of a contrast to our restaurant. During a busy summers day I booked many guests into the Pub for an evening meal. Later on, early in the evening we received a phone call from the pub saying two members of staff haven’t turned up, and there would only be one member of staff there and they wanted to cancel the tables.
- T- I knew this would be an inconvenience to our guests, many of which I recommended to dine at the local pub and after speaking with my manager I asked if I could go and cover the shift there for the evening, as I had recommended it and felt responsible for their experience during their stay.
- A- We called In cover for our venue and I went and worked the evening at the Pub. I had worked in various pubs before so was familiar with the work required. I applied this knowledge and adapted to the new environment ensuring I provided the best possible service. I made regular check ins with the tables, and engaged in further conversations with the guests about the local area, places to visit and potential excursions, leaving a positive and pleasant lasting impression for the evening.
- R-The evening went well and I was happy with the service provided, the guests complimented their evening to my manager on returning to the hotel. Later that month I received an ‘extra miler’ award from the company for my additional efforts that evening to ensure the guests received the experience they deserved.
Been part of a team ?
From a young age I have always been part of teams playing in multiple sports teams and that helped me developed skills over the years and knowledge of when to speak up and motivate the team or take a backseat and let someone else lead.
S- More recently, my role within the flight safety department
T There a multiple roles within our current team and we each fulfil many duties, working together and communicating effectively. We have fdma’s, fso’s as well as line managers. One duty I have naturally taken on during my times is investigating missing data of aircraft.
A- The aircraft Quick access recorder transmits data back to our software program and I will match each flight with the data every morning, to ensure we have all the data from the day before. Sometimes there as blockages and we may be missing data for a few days on one aircraft. If this happens I arrange meetings between avionics and engineering departments and, external company Teledyne to get to the bottom of it. During morning meetings I will brief the team on what data we are missing and when we will receive it.
R We each have individual roles we’ve naturally developed over time and we respect that and let each other persue those before coming together as a team and communicating so we are all sharing the same mental model and up to date.
How would you rate your communication skills?
I would rate my communication an 8 out of 10. I have always been in teams playing sports since a very young age, during these team sports, communication is essential on and off the field. I have had many customer facing roles, mainly in hospitality where communication with customers is paramount as well as communication within my team. More recently in my role as a flight safety analyst I have to communicate with flight crew, both Captains and FO’s. Sometimes its not the news they want to hear, regarding them submitting an ASR, so I have learnt how to communicate with them in an effective manor. I have given myself an 8 as I think there is always room for improvement.
Shown leadership?
S Manager on duty at the Methuen
T Ensure: professional smooth service, communication and teamwork motivate staff
A Started early, Created a section plan, and held a briefing, ensuring every member of staff knew what they needed to do for it to be a successful service. I ensured all staff stayed motivated during the busy shift and helped overcome problems as a team.
R No problems throughout the evening and had many compliments about the service we provided.
R Learnt how to manage a team, and got everyone to work together. I could’ve delegated more tasks to others instead of trying to do too much myself.
