Originally Posted by
Whidbey
Delta has been hiring a good number of folks with zero PIC. Safety arguments aside, that strategy is going to have an impact on the pilot group. Those pilots have less opportunity to gain employment elsewhere and I believe their votes may reflect that.
I was hired a year and a half ago with thousands of hours of PIC and instructor time in Air Force aircraft. I believe one person out of 28 in our new hire class had zero PIC time.
Originally Posted by
Whidbey
Tsquared's statements about youth entitlement in this case are dead on, IMHO. The pilots in the top half of the seniority list are a product of a much more selective process than us.
Delta had 5,500
qualified applicants when I applied, and 148 were hired off the street, for about a 2.7% acceptance rate. One was a former F-22 squadron commander. Our group was pretty highly selective.
The average age of our new hire class was about 33 years old. I wouldn't call it youth entitlement...I was 43 when I was hired. My last W-2 from the USAF was about $125,000. That first year of Delta pay was quite a transition.
If the company wants the highest qualified candidates applying, then they'll have to compensate them accordingly. These pilots have a high expectation for C2012...if it fails to deliver, then they may look elsewhere for employment.