FYI...Delta hired 1246 since Jan 2014.

They have PBS (boo) and no A plan (boo), but they do have a 16-18% DC plan, lots of growth, bases in SEA, LAX, SLC, JFK, BOS, ATL, DTW, and MSP. They have 12 hour long call reserve. Their salaries pretty much match ours, but greenslips (and they are plentiful) pay 200%. Some 7-8 year FOs are making 300k, while some of our 15 year WB captains cannot get a high five year while junior.

Yeah yeah yeah...they furloughed in the early 90s (200 pilots) and after 9/11. They lost their pensions.

But...ask yourself if you were a recruiter in line representing our company. What are you main selling points?
--Stability! (Pilot--But Fred Smith is old, and after him, who know...)
--Salary! (Pilot--Hey...my Delta buddy showed me his W-2. My 757 FO friend at FedEx did too. They were very similar, or even favored Delta)
--Location! (Pilot--Uh...you mean I can wait another year for class if I don't go to Hong Kong, but Delta will start me in Atlanta and I can be skiing on reserve in SLC in eight months? While I am still waiting for YOUR call?)
--Layovers. (Pilot--Well...damn...you guys DO see some cool places and still have some nice layovers. How long until I'm senior enough to hold them?)
--Pilots (Yeah...go got some great people at FedEx...you really do...)
--An A fund (...but my friends here say your negotiators don't want ME to have one, and you want to freeze theirs!)
--Memphis! BBQ. Muggings. Racial tension. Car thieves. Music. Did I mention BBQ? Uh..and we need you ONE HOUR from the democrat lot on reserve. (Pilot--Sounds..uh...great!)
--Advancement! We will hire 200 a year from now on (until the bean counters say stop). That means in another 18-24 months you might be off reserve in Memphis. Maybe. You do know you will advance sooner in Hong Kong, right? (Pilot--Okay, let me break out my calculator....)


Now put on your Delta recruiter hat:
Salary--industry leading for pax and passing FedEx in 2016....
Retirement plan--not as lucrative as FedEx but 100% yours the day we deposit it...
Bases--Pick one. You can hold it in less than 2 years. About 70-80% of your reserve will be long call so you can move out to the 'burbs if you want. 12 hour callout. "Reasonable" is for short call, which typically means 2 hours or less. There are a lot of places you can live 2 hours of from our hubs.
Hiring--We forecast another 1200-1400 this year too.
Non reving?--Yeah...you gotta watch the loads...but if you are adventurous you can see the world on your day's off with your family. Take a credit card and a sense of humor--you will need both--but you will have some fun too.

What's my point? Just about the time we have tweaked out hiring to make sure we only get the "best" pilots out there, there has been a sea change. Dr Hoffman's A team...and some of his rejects...are running to other places in droves. We are going to be playing catch up.

Why drop the 1000 PIC? The same reason SWA just dropped the type rating requirement: You are going to be picking up the scraps Delta, United, and American leave you.

The is was absolutely, positively the place to be hired in 1992, 1996, and in my case 2002. I have loved it...warts and all. Why anyone would come here in 2015 is beyond me if they had options at Delta. Stability is attractive at FedEx, but our growth is quite modest the last decade. Our management is attacking our benefits and reminding us constantly how "lucky" we are to be here, while they refuse to inflation adjust a pension that was set in the 1990s. In 2015 I'd take a 16% DC, daylight flying, domicile of choice, and non-rev ability over an operation that seems hell-bent on squeezing more and more out of fewer and fewer pilots.

A new contract--and a climate change--could fix all this. We have the potential to be a simply incredible place to work. It has been for me, but I've got 10-15 years left. I can coast through that. A guy with 20-35 years ahead needs to be really, really careful.