The 21st Century Delta Pilot
There is no more “Delta South” culture. It’s gone. What you’re referring to is the “metro-southerner”. The man/woman who maintains the draw but lives apart from the traditional redneck/hillbilly/plantation-owner stereotype. This new character is travelled, has a hobby, good manners, but will engage in liberal ideas and logic. Imagine if Fog-horn Leg-horn was a hipster...this is the inly “South” you will find at mainline Delta. Aside from that not even the traditional case of new-nepotism prevails at the “new” Delta.
$0.02 portion:
If you...
-don’t have laces on your shoes...
-wear a pilot sweater...
-have a good attendance record
-participate in union politics/positions...
-have less than 3000TT (as a civilian)...
-have military obligations...
-are a check airman...
...you probably won’t get hired by Delta. But rest assured that you have a variety of more fiscally responsible carriers that fly the same aircraft to the same cities.
Don’t get hung up on gold buttons. Your desire to be a Delta pilot and maintain your seniority at 9E keeps the chocolate river flowing and the mustache growing. Your peers at Compass/Expressjet-remnant/GoJet/Skywest etc. will have less competition to goto any other comparable legacy-121 operation. Congrats u da plug now.