Charlie17guy

When I got hired at Delta most of folks in the class had a masters degree and some extracurricular flying i.e. Line Check Airmen, Evaluator Pilot, etc... Delta values that kind of stuff more than just hours.

gliderguider

We are still a few years shy of the 700+ retirements a year, so keep the faith everyone. There is still lots of hiring to be done.

Baradium

They value volunteer work in the community as well. It's not a requirement, but it helps. They really like the community outreach stuff.


I'll also add that I was told to really be precise with your application. Print out the application using the available option and make sure every box has something entered, whether it be an n/a for text or a 0 for flight time. It took me a long time to figure out how to get to one of the boxes that showed up when printing as I wasn't under the heading I thought it would be. If you abbreviate a street address with Road in it as Rd. at one point, make sure all addresses abbreviate the same way as well. If you spelled it out the same applies, if you didn't use a period at the end too. Make everything completely as consistent as possible. This will at least make a difference when you do the actual interview but if a live person is scoring it then it will make a difference there as well.

For the interview itself, something else I did was I found some clip on tabs (like paperclips with write on tabs attached to them) and tabbed every major event in my logbook. Checkrides, changing companies etc.

dodgerk

This is spot on and I’ve heard the old presentation. The first Delta job fair I went to was in 2010. I spoke with a Delta representative there who told me they were looking for “umbrella pilots” not just 10,000 hours with 5,000 TPIC etc...

He talked about lots of things like:

- Internships (this was huge to him for some reason)
- Type of degree and quality of schools attended
- GPA
- Saftey department work
- Professional Standards work
- Volunteer work
- Types of jobs held
- Awards and achievements
- CFI or LCA work
- Work in management
- Delta connection affiliate
- And of course pilot records and licenses

I had 3 internal recs and 2 external and he said those were perfect and that I didn’t need anymore. The most important thing he said was to be patient (so hard).

My worthless advice is to make yourself as well-rounded of a pilot as possible and emphasize that however you can.

SideSticker

There are many factors that go into the hiring process. Don't dismiss the legal issues. If i remember correctly, Northwest lost a EEOC suit in the 90's and had to hire a bunch of older pilots to satisfy the feds.

Age Discrimination
Age discrimination involves treating an applicant or employee less favorably because of his or her age.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) forbids age discrimination against people who are age 40 or older. It does not protect workers under the age of 40, although some states have laws that protect younger workers from age discrimination. It is not illegal for an employer or other covered entity to favor an older worker over a younger one, even if both workers are age 40 or older.

PapaMike

Everything the last couple posts mentioned is spot on.

There will be a couple boxes on the application you simply cannot add information to but everything that can have a value added, add it.

Having the degree isn't necessarily the only thing they want. They value specific universities and aviation degrees. Not only that but how long did it take. If you can complete your bachelors in less than 4 years it will go a long way. If it took you 10 years it's not an impossibility to get the call but it won't be scored as highly.

You can never stop doing more to be more competitive. Add philanthropic activities, become an LCA, do some union work or company work. Try to find something that allows you to keep flying at the same time.

galaxy flyer

SideSticker,

True, and every carrier has hired guys in their 50s, even 60s to make sure they don’t get in a suit with the EEOC. Hiring those guys is insurance they can maintain control over the hiring standards and process.

GF

navigatro

Way to be a hater. I don't think Jesus would approve.

WhipWhitaker

Haha he probably wouldn't, neither would the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Both opinions hold just as much weight. (None)

aintifakh

I've done some work in social sciences and HRs and while I'm not familiar with Delta's hiring practices (I work now in HR in medicine) I can say with certainty the aviation industry as a whole does not have good practices when they choose their employees. Hiring preferences are usually not scientific or objective.

Years ago when working in the airline industry itself, I remember a very young pilot was hired at a major (when the economy wasn't good). Out of thousands of applicants, the company I worked for chose her. 2 years later she is walking on the streets of a major downtown area drunk as could be, telling news crews she had to go to work. Unbelievable. My experience was these types of stories are not isolated.

When studies of whom to hire are conducted, more often than not a dartboard gives a better guess than a specific interview scheme (in the real world).

If airlines are weighing specific colleges, GPAs, etc., it's a shame. There is no real world correlation to employment success and productivity with such metrics.

At best hiring practices are usually dysfunctional social engineering marred in politics. At worst they become criminal negligence if customers end up dead.

As an airline customer I'm relieved aircraft are more automated these days.

Anyway, the point of this silly post: not many people in aviation have *earned* their positions. Most get lucky and benefit from an irrational system which doesn't put safety first.