Wouldn't that mostly benefit people who can easily get to DEN and leave out a lot of good candidates? It's probably a chicken/egg thing with the job fairs too. I'm guessing the perception has been set that any significant airline has got to make it to at least the big job fairs and United doesn't want to miss the opportunity to find some really solid people there, just as the reality is that the fairs can help the candidate also regardless of whether people think they're a waste of time and money.

As a new United guy who was plenty qualified I knew that there were also well over 10,000 of my "best friends" also qualified and with apps in. Heck, most regional pilots who are looking to move on have apps at 4-10+ airlines easily... it doesn't really take much effort to do that and for most people, a few of those airlines are probably not really where they want to be, but are simply better than their regional. It does take a bunch more effort to show your face at a few fairs, M&Gs, etc and it's not like anyone is going to (or can) make that same effort for 10+ airlines. So someone who is first, well qualified and second, makes the effort to introduce themselves to United in multiple ways is probably someone truly motivated to work specifically at United.

I don't know if it's the ideal solution, but it seems to work.