Maybe for civilian applicants, but as a military guy all the ATP practical proved was that I had 4K in my bank account. I was flying a multi engine cargo plane in and out of combat zones around the world for years, but I had to prove to the FAA I could fly a little 2 engine piper, and those 4.5 hours was the difference between being a qualified applicant or not?

Delta doesn’t have that requirement, are they scraping the bottom of the barrel?