Well, I retired from DAL in 2014 and flew for DPJ about 18 months before leaving. The 2 reasons I left DPJ were schedule (I didn't like 8 days on, 6 days at home, which amounts to being gone about 18-19 days a month), and I was offered a similar job, with less days gone, at a local airport where I live. DPJ does keep you hopping because like any Part 135 operation doing on-demand charter, the schedule is constantly being modified and you sometimes have a short-notice tasking to pick up the slack when another jet in the fleet breaks. That said, the Chief Pilot, Jon Elliott, was a stand-up guy and very approachable. He often got involved when some of the jerks in Scheduling got carried away, and he generally backed his crews. I had one instance in which "Craig" in Scheduling told me I might have to pick up for an airplane that broke, but he told me he'd call back to confirm. 15 min's later he calls and demands to know why I'm not airborne already! So I reminded him I had been waiting for his confirmation, but he still tried to snake out of his responsibility by reporting my crew to the Chief Pilot and saying I had delayed the flight! Fortunately, when I explained it all to Jon, he totally backed me up and said he'd take care of the miscreant in Scheduling! I enjoyed the flying just the same, and being upgraded to Captain in 2 months was great, but at my age I did find I was burning out with the schedule; it's definitely for the young, hard-chargers who need to build time! The only other complaint was pay; we were promised significant pay raises but due to some heavy FAA fines on the maintenance operation, the company reneged on promises to come close to matching Net Jets, and that was a major disappointment for many of us. I did have to pay back a small portion of my training costs for leaving 6 mos early, but it was worth it to have an easier schedule. I've since left the last employer, Tempus Jets, because the company is on the ropes, but have been working as a U.S. gov't contractor at Langley AFB for 50% more pay than a Captain at DPJ, home most nights, and better benefits, but I have little bad to say for my experience with Delta Private Jets. Just go in with your eyes open; most of the people there are great.
