That sort of thing kind of went up my rear a bit too, my school's alumni relations called to ask me how long I have been at Delta. (I'm 40). When I told them "under a year" I got "Why weren't you hired right out of school like so and so" from them.


So and so was a woman from my college.. Which isn't an aviation school by any means. Had a private before college (same here) then got a Commercial/CFI, built hours on summer break instructing, got to a regional at 23, Delta at 24. Yes. Twenty Four. I think she turned 25 during indoc.

She's going to be solidly top 5 for a long time at Delta. Good on her, but the school's write up was "OMG I worked REALLY HARD, but anyone can do it if they try"

(The handful of other alums I know are all 35-45 when hired and we all had the same reaction.. UGH)