Originally Posted by
Bucking Bar
Delta has got a huge pile of 45 to 55 year old First Officers. While Delta has never even hinted that they hire to distribute the retirement curve, common sense tells me Delta needs what it doesn't have, younger First Officers. That is just my guess.
I'd say that's a pretty well educated guess.
Flight Ops would be irresponsible if they didn't pay some attention to those demographics when hiring. All other things being roughly equal, the younger applicant is going to have an edge this time around. Not for any reason of age discrimination but just because Delta
has to smooth out the retirement curve in order to maintain continuity in the operation.
They can't have half the pilot group all retiring within a couple years of each other.