I started applying to DL, UAL, SWA in Feb 2008. Bad timing on my part with age 65 and the economy. First one of the three to offer a interview was in Sept 2015. UAL offered a interview when I was already in class with SWA.

The longer I stayed at the regional, the more I branched out to applying to Virgin, US Air, Spirit, Alaska, JetBlue....not places that I would have stayed any longer than necessary until my top choices called. AirTran, Continental, and Northwest were all gone by that point....maybe could have backdoored a spot into the merged airlines and been more senior....who knows?