Boeing Assessment Tests

Boeing Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a cargo assistant. A colleague who is late for a meeting asks you to sign the document check on a consignment, saying he looked through the paperwork earlier and it was all in order. Your signature means you personally checked it. He has always been reliable, the consignment is waiting to move, and checking it yourself would take about ten minutes. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him you will take the ten minutes to go through the paperwork yourself, and sign the check afterwards once you have seen the documents with your own eyes.
   2. Decline to sign and suggest he finds somebody else on the shift to put their name to the check before he leaves for his meeting.
   3. Sign the check on the strength of what he has told you, since he has never been wrong about paperwork before and the consignment is holding up the bay.
   4. Ask him to confirm by email that he went through the documents himself, then sign the check citing his confirmation as the basis for it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell him you will take the ten minutes to go through the paperwork yourself, and sign the check afterwards once you have seen the documents with your own eyes.

   Least effective: C. Sign the check on the strength of what he has told you, since he has never been wrong about paperwork before and the consignment is holding up the bay.

   B: Passes the problem along: the same signature is still being sought without anyone reading the documents, and the next colleague meets the request with less reason to doubt it.

   C: Signs for work that was not done: the record now says the documents were checked by you, and anyone relying on it later has no way of knowing that nobody read them.

   D: Substitutes a colleague's word for the check itself: an email makes the shortcut traceable rather than undoing it, and the signature still asserts something you did not do.

   The most effective response is to tell him you will take the ten minutes to go through the paperwork yourself, and sign afterwards once you have seen the documents: your signature is a statement that you checked, ten minutes is a small price for making that statement true, and it costs the consignment very little. It beats asking him to confirm by email that he went through the documents and signing on that basis, because an email records who to blame rather than getting the documents read, and the signature still says something untrue. It beats declining and suggesting he finds somebody else to put their name to it, because that leaves the same unchecked paperwork looking for a signature, from someone with less reason to question it. The least effective response is signing on the strength of what he has told you: it puts your name to a check nobody performed, so the record is false and everything downstream is decided on it. That is worse than declining, which refuses, and worse than the email, which at least leaves a trail. The principle: sign only for what you did, and where that is inconvenient, do the work rather than redefining the signature.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a ramp agent on the early shift. You have noticed that the baggage trolleys are left at the far stands overnight, so the first turnaround of every morning loses about ten minutes fetching them, and it has been that way for months. Nobody has raised it and it is not part of your job. Your shift ends in twenty minutes. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Write down the mornings you have seen it happen and the time it costs, and take that to the ramp supervisor with a suggestion for where the trolleys should be left at night.
   2. Bring the trolleys back to the near stands yourself at the end of each shift from now on, so that the first turnaround of the morning has them where they are needed.
   3. Tell the early shift coming on that fetching the trolleys is part of their morning, and leave them to raise it with the supervisor if it bothers them enough.
   4. Mention it to whoever is taking over from you on the next shift, so that the point gets passed along the shifts until it reaches somebody who can change where trolleys are parked.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Write down the mornings you have seen it happen and the time it costs, and take that to the ramp supervisor with a suggestion for where the trolleys should be left at night.

   Least effective: C. Tell the early shift coming on that fetching the trolleys is part of their morning, and leave them to raise it with the supervisor if it bothers them enough.

   B: Fixes it personally rather than properly: the ten minutes come back only on the mornings after you have worked, and the arrangement disappears the day you are on leave.

   C: Passes it to the people it costs: the ten minutes stay exactly where they are, and the man holding the evidence has handed the job of complaining to whoever suffers most from it.

   D: Relies on the message travelling: a remark handed from shift to shift loses the detail that makes it convincing, and nobody along the way owns getting it to the supervisor.

   The most effective response is to write down the mornings you have seen it happen and the time it costs, and take that to the ramp supervisor with a suggestion for where the trolleys should be left: what makes this worth acting on is that you can show it happens repeatedly and what it costs, and he is the person who can move where they are parked. It beats bringing the trolleys back to the near stands yourself at the end of each shift, because that buys the ten minutes back only on your own mornings, and stops the moment you are away. It beats mentioning it to whoever takes over from you so the point gets passed along the shifts, because a remark travelling that way arrives without the evidence and without anyone responsible for delivering it. The least effective response is telling the early shift that fetching the trolleys is part of their morning: it hands both the problem and the job of raising it to the shift that pays for it, while the person who measured the cost keeps the evidence to himself. That is worse than moving them yourself, which fixes it partially, and worse than passing the message along, which at least sets it moving. The principle: when you are the one who has seen the pattern, take it with evidence to whoever can change it, rather than working around it or assuming it is known.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are in a team meeting. Your team leader praises a colleague for the change to how delayed-bag deliveries are batched, which was your idea: you worked it out and told him about it a fortnight ago. He says nothing and accepts the praise. Two other colleagues who knew it was yours are in the room. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Keep your ideas to yourself in future and stop talking through what you are working on with him, so that this cannot happen again.
   2. Let it go entirely, since the change is in place and doing anybody any good, and who thought of it first makes no practical difference to the work.
   3. Speak to him after the meeting, tell him plainly that the idea was yours, and ask him to put it right with the team leader or to do it with you.
   4. Correct it in the meeting itself, so that everybody present hears where the idea actually came from and there is no need for a conversation afterwards.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Speak to him after the meeting, tell him plainly that the idea was yours, and ask him to put it right with the team leader or to do it with you.

   Least effective: A. Keep your ideas to yourself in future and stop talking through what you are working on with him, so that this cannot happen again.

   A: Withdraws from the team to solve it: the next good idea is never raised, the team loses it, and the thing that actually went wrong here is never mentioned to anyone.

   B: Pays for the peace with the record: the change stands, but the team leader now believes something untrue about who works things out, and that shapes what he asks of each of you.

   D: Settles it in front of the room: whatever the truth, he is contradicted publicly by a colleague, and the meeting remembers the awkwardness rather than the change.

   The most effective response is to speak to him after the meeting, tell him plainly that the idea was yours, and ask him to put it right with the team leader or to do it with you: he may not have known how to correct it in the moment, saying it plainly gives him the chance, and offering to do it together makes it easy for him to take. It beats correcting it in the meeting itself, because that turns a claim about an idea into a public contradiction. It beats letting it go entirely because the change is doing good, since that leaves your team leader with a wrong picture of who works things out, which shapes what he asks of both of you. The least effective response is keeping your ideas to yourself in future and no longer talking work through with him: it answers the problem by withholding your ideas, so the team loses the next one and nobody ever learns what happened. That is worse than letting it go, which costs only the record, and worse than correcting it publicly, which at least puts it right. The principle: say it to the person, in private, and give them the chance to correct it themselves.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a ramp agent. The tags coming off the self-service machines are printed so faintly that three times this week bags have been sent to the wrong reclaim belt, and passengers have waited an hour for luggage that was going round two halls away. The machines belong to the airport, and raising anything about their equipment is generally thought to be more trouble than it is worth. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Look more carefully at each tag as you sort, so that the bags going through your own hands at least end up on the right belt whoever printed the label.
   2. Leave it alone, since the machines belong to the airport and a ramp agent raising a complaint about their equipment is likely to come back on you rather than on the machines.
   3. Mention it to one of the airport staff you know when you next see them, so that word reaches the right people without anything having to be made formal.
   4. Keep one of the faint tags, write up the three occasions and the delay each one caused, and take it to your team leader so the airline can raise it with the airport.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Keep one of the faint tags, write up the three occasions and the delay each one caused, and take it to your team leader so the airline can raise it with the airport.

   Least effective: B. Leave it alone, since the machines belong to the airport and a ramp agent raising a complaint about their equipment is likely to come back on you rather than on the machines.

   A: Covers the bags you happen to handle: the faint tags are read by every loader on every shift, and the ones that go astray are mostly the ones you never see.

   B: Trades a known fault for a quiet life: passengers are losing an hour to it every few days, and the reason nothing is said is the fear of what saying it might cost you.

   C: Relies on a favour to carry a fault: an informal word has no owner and no record, so nothing has to happen about it and most likely nothing will.

   The most effective response is to keep one of the faint tags, write up the three occasions and the delay each caused, and take it to your team leader so the airline can raise it with the airport: a tag in your hand and three dated occasions make the problem obvious to somebody who has not seen it, and the airline talking to the airport is the route by which the machines actually change. It beats looking more carefully at each tag as you sort, because that covers only the bags you touch, and most pass through other hands. It beats mentioning it to one of the airport staff you know when you next see them, because an informal word leaves nobody responsible for doing anything. The least effective response is leaving it alone because raising it might come back on you: a fault costing passengers an hour every few days stays in place because the complaint might be unwelcome. That is worse than the other two, which at least do something about it. The principle: gather the evidence and put a real fault through the proper channel, even when the equipment belongs to somebody else.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a gate agent. A colleague you are friendly with has been asked to account for an incident at the gate yesterday, and asks you to confirm her version to the duty manager. You were there. Her account is broadly right, but on one important point, what she said to the passenger, your memory is clearly different. She is anxious and treats your agreement as settled. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Give the duty manager only the parts of the incident you are certain about, and leave out the point where your memory differs from hers, so that you contradict nobody.
   2. Tell her before you speak to anyone that you remember what she said to the passenger differently, and that you will have to give your own account of that part.
   3. Tell her you would rather not be drawn into it, and ask the duty manager to leave you out of the account since there were other people at the gate who also saw it.
   4. Confirm her version as she has described it, since she is a friend, she is right about most of it, and the point where you remember things differently is a detail.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell her before you speak to anyone that you remember what she said to the passenger differently, and that you will have to give your own account of that part.

   Least effective: D. Confirm her version as she has described it, since she is a friend, she is right about most of it, and the point where you remember things differently is a detail.

   A: Edits an account to avoid a collision: the duty manager is left with a version shaped by what you chose to omit, and neither he nor she knows that something has been left out.

   C: Withdraws from something you witnessed: you were there and the point at issue is one you remember clearly, so declining to say so leaves the question to people who saw less.

   D: Puts loyalty into an account of fact: what she said to the passenger is the part being examined, and it is being confirmed by somebody who remembers it differently.

   The most effective response is to tell her before you speak to anyone that you remember what she said to the passenger differently and will have to give your own account: your account has to be your own, and telling her first means she is not ambushed and can decide what to say herself. It beats giving the duty manager only the parts you are certain about, because leaving out the disputed point produces a version that is misleading precisely where it matters, and nobody knows it has been edited. It beats asking to be left out of the account because others also saw it, because you saw the thing in question, and standing back leaves it to people who saw less. The least effective response is confirming her version as she has described it: it presents as fact something you remember differently, on the strength of a friendship, and the point confirmed is the one under examination. That is worse than the other two, which are evasive rather than untrue. The principle: give your own account, and warn the person in advance where it will differ from theirs.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a crewing assistant. A crew member has asked for a duty swap that cannot be done: it would leave a flight uncovered and there is nobody available to take her duty. She is hoping for it, has mentioned family plans, and will make arrangements on the strength of whatever you tell her. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her you will look into it and come back to her, so that the answer does not have to be given while she is still hoping, and confirm the refusal later on.
   2. Tell her it will probably be fine and that you will sort out the details, since something may still turn up and there is no sense in disappointing her before it has to happen.
   3. Ask her to put the request in writing so that it can be considered formally, which will also give her a record of the decision when it is made.
   4. Tell her plainly that the swap cannot be done and why, and go through what else might help, such as a later report time or a swap on a different day.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell her plainly that the swap cannot be done and why, and go through what else might help, such as a later report time or a swap on a different day.

   Least effective: B. Tell her it will probably be fine and that you will sort out the details, since something may still turn up and there is no sense in disappointing her before it has to happen.

   A: Softens a settled answer into a maybe: nothing further is going to be found, and the delay is time she spends believing the plans might still work.

   B: Gives an assurance to avoid the moment: she makes family arrangements on the strength of it, and finds out later that the answer was always no.

   C: Puts a process in front of an answer you already have: the request cannot be granted whoever considers it, and asking her to write it out keeps her waiting for nothing.

   The most effective response is to tell her plainly that the swap cannot be done and why, and go through what else might help, such as a later report time or a swap on a different day: the answer is settled, she is about to make arrangements around it, and pairing the refusal with alternatives gives her something to work with today. It beats saying you will look into it and come back to her, because promising to consider something already decided leaves her hoping for no reason. It beats asking her to put the request in writing for formal consideration, because a written request cannot change an answer that rests on there being nobody to cover the duty. The least effective response is telling her it will probably be fine and that you will sort out the details: it lets her plan around a swap that was never possible, purely to avoid an awkward conversation now. That is worse than the other two, which delay the answer rather than replacing it with the wrong one. The principle: give a clear no early, with the reason and whatever alternatives exist, to somebody who is about to act on it.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a cabin crew member finishing the drinks service before landing. A colleague in the rear galley is struggling to finish the bar count on her own and it has to be done before the aircraft is on the ground. You have one row left to serve and then nothing until the cabin check. She has not asked anybody for help. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Serve the last row, then go back to the galley and count with her, so that the bar is finished before the aircraft begins its descent.
   2. Suggest she completes the count from the loading paperwork rather than the trolley, so that it is finished before landing even though it is not what is actually on board.
   3. Finish your row and carry on with the rest of your own duties, since she has not asked for any help and the bar count is her responsibility on this flight.
   4. Let the senior crew member know that the bar count is running behind so that she can decide whether somebody should be sent back to help in the galley.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Serve the last row, then go back to the galley and count with her, so that the bar is finished before the aircraft begins its descent.

   Least effective: C. Finish your row and carry on with the rest of your own duties, since she has not asked for any help and the bar count is her responsibility on this flight.

   B: Trades the accuracy for the deadline: the count is what tells the airline what was sold, and one taken from the loading sheet records what should be there rather than what is.

   C: Withholds help that costs nothing: you are free, she is not, and waiting to be asked is what turns a two-minute job into a count that does not get finished.

   D: Escalates a two-minute job: you are the person standing free with the time to do it, and routing the question through the senior spends more of the descent than the counting would.

   The most effective response is to serve the last row, then go back to the galley and count with her: the count has to be finished before landing, you are a row away from having nothing to do, and two people finish it comfortably. It beats suggesting she completes the count from the loading paperwork, because that meets the deadline by recording what should be on board rather than what is. It beats letting the senior crew member decide whether somebody should be sent back to help, because that spends time when the somebody is obviously you. The least effective response is finishing your row and carrying on with your own duties because she has not asked: it leaves a colleague to miss a deadline you were free to help her meet. That is worse than the other two, which both try to get the count done, even if by the wrong route. The principle: when you are free and a colleague is not, offer rather than wait to be asked.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a turnaround coordinator. A loader from the handling company says sharply, in front of your whole team, that your paperwork is always late and that his crew are sick of standing around waiting for it. Today’s paperwork went across on time and you can show that. The two teams have to work the next four turnarounds together. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Catch him away from the group, ask which mornings he has in mind, and agree between you how and when the paperwork should reach his crew from now on.
   2. Answer him there and then with the times the paperwork went across this morning, so that the accusation is not left standing in front of your own team.
   3. Let it go without replying, and tell your own team afterwards that he is difficult to deal with and that they should come to you rather than speak to him directly.
   4. Report the way he spoke to you to his own supervisor, so that the handling company can deal with how their loaders address people from other teams on the ramp.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Catch him away from the group, ask which mornings he has in mind, and agree between you how and when the paperwork should reach his crew from now on.

   Least effective: C. Let it go without replying, and tell your own team afterwards that he is difficult to deal with and that they should come to you rather than speak to him directly.

   B: Wins the exchange in public: today's timings may be unanswerable, but the two teams have four more turnarounds together and he now has to back down in front of his crew.

   C: Talks about him instead of to him: the complaint is never tested, and the two teams are pushed further apart by a version of him that he never gets to answer.

   D: Escalates before speaking to him: it turns a bad-tempered remark into a complaint between two companies, and the question of whether the paperwork really has been late is never answered.

   The most effective response is to catch him away from the group, ask which mornings he has in mind, and agree how and when the paperwork should reach his crew: there may well be something real behind the complaint, asking is how you find out, and away from the audience he can say so without either of you losing face. It beats answering there and then with the times the paperwork went across this morning, because being right in front of both crews costs you the working relationship you need for the next four turnarounds. It beats reporting the way he spoke to you to his own supervisor, because that makes a formal matter of it while leaving the underlying question untouched. The least effective response is letting it go and telling your own team afterwards that he is difficult to deal with: it leaves the accusation unexamined and then briefs your team against him, so the two sides work four more turnarounds further apart than they started. That is worse than the other two, which both engage with the substance, however clumsily. The principle: take the disagreement to the person, in private, and find out whether the complaint is true before deciding how to answer it.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a baggage services agent who has been moved to the ticket desk for the afternoon because two colleagues are off sick. You had a day’s training on ticketing several months ago and can manage the straightforward transactions, but not the complicated ones. A queue of about ten people is already forming. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell the supervisor which transactions you can handle and which you cannot, ask who to call for the rest, and open the desk and start on the ones within your reach.
   2. Ask to go back to baggage services and let the supervisor find somebody who works the ticket desk regularly, since you have not done ticketing for several months now.
   3. Open the desk and work through everything that comes to you, making your best guess at the transactions you have not done, so that the queue does not build up while you ask around.
   4. Work through the queue slowly and carefully, taking as long as each transaction needs and looking everything up as you go, however long the line becomes.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell the supervisor which transactions you can handle and which you cannot, ask who to call for the rest, and open the desk and start on the ones within your reach.

   Least effective: C. Open the desk and work through everything that comes to you, making your best guess at the transactions you have not done, so that the queue does not build up while you ask around.

   B: Declines the stretch entirely: there is nobody else to find this afternoon, and a good half of the queue needs exactly the transactions you can still do.

   C: Guesses at answers to protect appearances: passengers are given ticketing decisions that may simply be wrong, and they will act on them long before anybody discovers it.

   D: Answers a staffing problem with care alone: thoroughness does not supply the knowledge you lack, and a queue of ten becomes twenty while the difficult cases still cannot be finished.

   The most effective response is to tell the supervisor which transactions you can handle and which you cannot, ask who to call for the rest, and open the desk on the ones within your reach: being straight about the boundary is what gets the difficult cases routed somewhere, and opening meanwhile serves the passengers whose business you can actually do. It beats working through the queue slowly and looking everything up as you go, because working slowly does not turn an unfamiliar transaction into a familiar one, and the queue pays for it. It beats asking to go back to baggage services so somebody who works ticketing regularly can take it, because there is nobody else this afternoon, and much of the queue is within your reach. The least effective response is opening the desk and guessing at the transactions you have not done: it hands passengers ticketing decisions that may be wrong, to avoid looking unable rather than to serve them. That is worse than going back to baggage, which helps nobody but misleads nobody, and worse than working slowly, which is slow but accurate. The principle: say plainly what you can and cannot do, get the rest covered, and start on the part you can.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are an operations coordinator working the night shift alone. The handling agent’s supervisor mentions to you, as a favour, that she will not have enough staff for the six o’clock departures and asks you not to put it on the record while she tries to fix it. Your duty manager comes on at five, an hour before the first flight. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Write what she told you into the shift handover so that the duty manager reads it on arrival at five, and leave the decision about what to do with the morning to him.
    2. Agree to keep it between the two of you as she asked, on the basis that she knows her own staffing best and has told you she is dealing with it.
    3. Ring round the standby list yourself tonight to find cover for her shifts, and tell the duty manager in the morning once you know whether it has worked.
    4. Tell her plainly that you cannot keep this off the record, then call the duty manager tonight so that cover can be looked for while there are still hours in which to find it.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: D. Tell her plainly that you cannot keep this off the record, then call the duty manager tonight so that cover can be looked for while there are still hours in which to find it.

    Least effective: B. Agree to keep it between the two of you as she asked, on the basis that she knows her own staffing best and has told you she is dealing with it.

    A: Delays the decision: a handover read at five leaves an hour before the first departure, which is too late to bring anyone in, so the warning arrives after it could have been used.

    B: Trades a warning for a favour: the one person who could have called in cover overnight is deliberately kept from knowing, and the promise not to tell him is what makes it a concealment rather than a delay.

    C: Substitutes your own fix for his decision: staffing another company's shift is not yours to arrange, and he still arrives at five to find out whether somebody else's improvisation held.

    The most effective response is to tell her plainly that you cannot keep this off the record, then call the duty manager tonight: the value of the warning is entirely in the hours before five, and being straight with her means she is not misled about what you are going to do. It beats writing what she told you into the shift handover for him to read on arrival, because that surfaces at five with one hour left, when calling anyone in is no longer realistic. It beats ringing round the standby list yourself to find cover for her shifts, because arranging another company’s cover is not yours to do, and he still learns at five whether it worked. The least effective response is agreeing to keep it between the two of you as she asked: it is an agreement to keep the only person who could act in the dark, which is a different thing from judging when to raise it. That is what separates it from the handover note, which gets the information to him too late to use, and from ringing the standby list, which acts on his behalf without telling him. The principle: escalate while the escalation can still change something, and never promise silence you would have to break.