Funny. Everyone I know at the regional and even LCC level that has met UAL recruiters at a "job fair" have been told something similar. I will never understand why they waste everyone's time with this.

Despite what you hear from line pilots who haven't interviewed in a half a decade or more, the days of networking and who you know are over. I know people who are so well connected, they could walk into the Willis Tower and have lunch with any number of managers, yet they can't get past the computerized algorithm, despite high time, degrees, and clean records. Nowadays, if your quals and demographics don't hit the sweet spot of whatever the algorithm is looking for, you don't get an interview. No one can get you past the algorithm. Which is why the recruiters blow smoke up everyone's butts. If UAL is seriously interested in hiring the best, they heed to put more human interaction back in. Not have a lottery.