My take is that this is all marketing for now…. Priming the pump, getting people really hyped about Delta and maybe provide some motivation for some undecided youngsters to pursue a flying career. Hence the reliance on social media to get the word out.

The message is that Delta is still the place to be amongst rising demand for pilots. And it seems to work. This is akin to demand inelasticity of luxury goods. The more expensive that Ferrari is the more people want it….

Having been to some “for profit” career fairs, I felt that it was all management of expectations – by each and every of the legacy carriers. They know they will need most of us at some point – just not right now. And so they go right into a happy marketing routine about how “everything looks good and keep doing what you are doing”.

I truly hope that those in-house career fairs will continue. And maybe over time the admission criteria/format may change from first come first serve to a more qualification based method. I wouldn’t be surprised if a sizable share of registrants that are duplicates and folks that otherwise do not meet the minimum requirements (college degree, experience etc.).

Regardless, it is nice to see this development.