Never said I was the best of the best. I'm not even the best of the fattest part of the middle of the bell curve on a good day

DL does like those who "fly DL passengers" as evidenced by the massive numbers of DCI pilots they've hired both in this cycle and before that.

You say your time at DCI should count for more than an interview, yet many work for years busting their tails and going to job fairs and networking and doing extra "resume" stuff and upgrading as soon as they can and all the other things it sometimes takes. But you are owed not just an interview, but a guaranteed job. And anyone saying differently is "pompous", and yet you claim that's not a sense of entitlement.

That's exactly the attitude I'm talking about. And you can bet they are trained to spot that a mile away. You can try and fool them, and that sometimes works. Or you can recage your entitlement and realize you actually have to work for it, and not everyone will be successful with any given company. That doesn't mean they aren't (really) good pilots or even good people. But HR controls who they hire and if you want the job you have to get it through them, not us.

FYI you do get formal credit for being DCI. Its on the app and it adds points. They'll be able to easily tell in the interview if you've been a good employee (or at least if you haven't been I suppose) and the rest if up to you. JMHO, but I wouldn't tell them that you'll consider a "no thanks" from them the same as a big fat middle finger KMA. Be gracious either way and move on.

You want to know a secret about airline interviews? Its not really about finding the best of the best. Its largely about seeing if the applicant is motivated enough to prepare for it in the first place because that IS an indicator of future success. That's one part of it that really separates the entitled from the humble and motivated. Walking in and thinking "yeah I'm basically owed this because I already paid my dues at DCI" is an easy way not to get it.