The hiring at HAL is embarrassing.. we're a good enough airline, with a long and storied history and should be able to attract the best and brightest pilots the industry has to offer.. Unlike many other carriers, we have been hiring into international widebody flying... we've got some of the best (And most demanding) routes in the world, flying the Western Pacific is serious business, and you WANT very experience pilots who've been there and done that sitting as IRO's and FO's on those trips, not kids with no time outside of Hawaii or at some West Coast fair weather "regional' dropping gear on a turboprop..
The hiring is VERY anti-military for one, so we lose out on a lot of good military pilots. The only Mil guys who ever get hired are the HI ANG guys. I counted 4 classes in 2012 with some 35 bodies, and only 2 of them were Mil.. contrast that with most major airlines where it's almost 50%.. And it's not that they don't apply. I recall seeing many qualified C17 commanders, F15/16/22 drivers, etc at my phase 1/2 and by the time I got to phase 3 I was shocked to find many with no college degree, and as little as Shorts experience at TransAir with 2000TT..
Where Delta brags about hiring the best, and paying them the most, we brag about hiring local and dipping into the mainland pot ONLY when we've expired every last local who can fog a mirror.
Sad.