Absolutely you should, especially if you want a job at Alaska Airlines. While this story is old, it still holds true today.

A squadron mate of mine had just gotten hired at my airline. We were in the crew room one day just after he got his rejection letter from United.

Him: "Do you think if I had told them I was 1/8th Mexican it would have made a difference?"

Me: "Are you?"

Him: "Yeah, my grandmother was Mexican."

Me: "If you send in another cold application and put that fact on it, I GUARANTEE you'll be working at United in 6 weeks."

The next time I saw him he was turning in his books and leaving for his DENTK United class. I couldn't get hired at United with 5200 hours of flight time, 2000 in DC-9s with my UAL Captain Dad hand carrying my stuff into HR.

Why? They told him I was "overqualified." They wanted people with 750 -1500 hours that they could "train to be United pilots."

The bottom line is this...getting a job at a Major airline is extremely competitive. Use EVERYTHING you can to get hired at your dream job, even (tacky though it sounds) if you have to play any race/gender card you may legitimately have.

As the previous poster said, everyone getting the interview is qualified. You have to have basic aviation qualifications no matter what race/gender you are. If you can't cut it in training or on the line, they'll get rid of you or make you a permanent First Officer.

Once you're out on the line, you'll find your race/gender makes ZERO difference. The only people who care are the HR types that have to check the Equal Opportunity quota box.