Originally Posted by deltajuliet

After arriving in Pyongyang, they put me in the Yanggakdo International Hotel. I was careful not to say anything negative about Air Koryo since past applicants mentioned listening bugs in the hotel room. Supposedly one was interned at a labor camp for making a wise crack about Kim Il-sung. I’ve always believed that if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all, so I wasn’t too worried.

The company arranged a ride to the training center for my 8 a.m. interview. The staff was very prompt and serious; I noticed quickly that punctuality and fastidiousness were heavily engrained in the company culture. They went through my logbook and aside from a sneer at my U.S. flight hours, they didn’t find any issues. Unfortunately, however, they wouldn’t accept my letters of recommendation since they were “an assault on the peace-loving people of the DPRK by Western imperialists” and possibly constituted a gross and heinous crime against the People’s Republic of Korea. I was apologetic and they allowed me to continue the interview.

Next came the sim. We walked down a dark concrete corridor to the sim room, and they gave me the option of flying the Il-76 or Tu-134. I went with the Ilyushin since the Tu-134’s cockpit switches were almost all in Russian or Korean. They were very proud of the recently installed NDB at Sunan Airport and had me take off to do the NDB 19. I thought I did well, but in the debrief they were extremely critical of how I missed paying tribute to Dear Leader during the After Takeoff checklist. It was all raw data and a little tricky.

In the HR interview, I was doing well until we got to CRM. They would have preferred I offer my blind and unquestioning compliance with the Captain’s orders. "The cockpit is not a place for radical defiance against the one true Korea." I mentioned that Everything Explained for the Professional Pilot discussed communication in a positive light, but they said that was just a product of Western decadence. My other two slip-ups were on MEL’s and aerodynamics; it seems anything can be deferred indefinitely, and wing sweep increases critical Mach happens because Kim Jong-un is great.

All in all, I didn’t feel Air Koryo was the best fit for where I am in my career. The commute to Pyonyang would be tricky, and renouncing American citizenship might close other doors in the future. Also, since their Captains work their whole lives, upgrade time is running about 40 years. I thanked them, then got a ride to the airport to hop the flight back to Beijing.

If anybody has any questions or would like further details regarding the gouge, let me know.

Originally Posted by DennyP

I do have a question, is there a Cubana or Iran Air interview gouge?