All you want to know about Skywest Training

Edit: For people reading this in the future, please look at the comments because I've added a lot of additional information about things like how pay works. I also made a second post about being on reserve. Here is it. I reply to comments and private messages.

Interview:

I arrived early. We were measured for height. We had a Skywest info session then one on one interviews. I got my CJO about 48 hours after my interview. There's a ton of posts on different peoples experience. My experience was about 2 hours and the interview itself was very short.

Timeline:

• Applied 1 week before in person interview. In person interview mid-January for training mid-April. Offer within 48 hours.
• Access to the Skywest website with employee ID 1 month before training with 3 weeks to complete certain tasks (drug testing, finger printing).
• 2 weeks before training - travel details and information for the test on the first day. 1 week beforehand - information on the hotel and flight to SLC.
• Right now, IOE's are taking place about 3 weeks after training in SLC ends. You don’t get your domicile (or bid) until after ground training as of right now.

You get a schedule of bus pickup times and every day’s agenda. This information won't really change so early on you know when to expect tests, drills, powerpoints, long days, days off.

Training:

Is it hard? No. Training isn't hard if you read and understand what's expected of you beforehand. Go into training with an open mind. You might have a dozen best friends, you might not. You might be the only person from your state. Your best friend might be your grandma's age. You might be the only man.

Did people get kicked out? About 20% of my class did (we started with 52 people and ended with 40).

Why? They slept late (you cannot miss even 1 minute of class that’s mandated by the FAA). They failed tests (you get 2 chances to pass a multiple choice test and 3 chances on drills). They violated dress code more than once. People got LOI’s (letters of instruction – write ups) for tattoos, dress code, forgetting required items, talking back/arguing, language, and not being in their seat at the start of class.

What should I do to succeed? Take care of yourself, don't drink excessively, don't stay up late, abide by curfew, follow the dress code exactly, and believe in yourself.

Are the tests hard? Not at all, there's tons of resources to help you study. Lots of people would get 100% and most everyone would get 80% or above (passing). Usually 1-3 people would fail a test and then pass the re-test. Towards the end, no one failed a test including the cumulative.

Are drills hard? They're even easier than the test, you get workshop time, practices, and 3 chances to pass.

What are the instructors like? Most of them are actually really nice. Some of them do give out LOI's and some don't. Even the ones who give LOI's are nice people. It’s their job to prepare us for the line and when you’re on the line, you can’t violate dress code. You can’t be late on probation. When we would talk about instructors, most of what we said was positive. I liked all of them.

What time do you wake up? Every day is different. The earliest days were 5 am and some days weren't till 10:30 am. When we split into pods (groups of about 10) some of the groups start after 2 pm but then you're at the hangar past 10 pm. A is the early pod, D is the late pod, B/C are afternoon or early/late respectively. You get your pod the day you arrive. That’s also the seniority order.

Was there drama? No. My class had essentially no drama and yours can too. Be positive and kind towards everyone. Everyone can pass training so there’s nothing to be gained by bringing other people down and my whole class knew that.

What's the dress code? Plain black or white tops with black dress pants or a skirt/dress. Black leather shoes. Everything could be called "conservative". I wore black tops with black dress pants and leather mary janes. I had 3 of the same tops/2 of the same pants. For tops, look for turtlenecks, button ups, or a plain high scoop neck. If you wear a skirt or dress it must cover your knees when you walk and you need to wear tights. They have an Amazon page for you to look at and a full dress code with pictures.

Is the classroom cold? Yes. The breakroom is even colder. Bring layers.

Hotel:

What hotel did you stay at? We can't tell anyone for safety reasons. Only one class per hotel at a time. You'll probably be at an airport hotel. You won't be in downtown SLC. You probably won’t have a lot of amenities to walk to, just other hotels.

What did the hotel have? Mine had a microwave and minifridge. I had a kingsize bed, a couch, a desk, and a TV. Internet was not great. I used my hotspot a lot.

What did you do for food? I had a hot plate ($15 on Amazon, worked amazing). I made ramen, pasta, eggs, vegetables/dip, cheese plates, bagged salads. Some people got groceries delivered. I took ubers with other people into town three times to get groceries.

A lot of people ordered food every single day. The hallway was full of pizza boxes, Red Lobster, Chinese, Chipotle. That's fine too. If you're gonna do that, sign up for rewards or try and split delivery with a classmate.

The Hangar has a great snack bar. It's really well priced and has chips, candy, drinks, ice cream bars, muffins, sandwiches, cereal, meal boxes. I ate a lot of snacks.

Money:

How much money should I have saved? For training, expect to spend about $500 on clothes, required items, food, ubers. Then consider your expenses at home. Phone bill? Rent? Netflix sub? Credit card bill?

Then consider future expenses. Moving, breaking a lease, starting a lease with a new security deposit, a crash pad, ubers, luggage, additional uniform pieces. I would have a couple thousand saved and ready to be spent ($5k if you demand a number, thats the minimum I would have, but your money is your journey).

How much do you get paid in training? You get paid 2.13 flight hours a day twice a month. I will also mention that Skywest gives you about $450 worth of uniform pieces including two sets of clothes, a winter coat, a layering piece and ties/scarves.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. The only things I won't share are specific interview questions, confidential information learned in training, and specific test questions.