- low college GPA (was told Delta required a 3.5 GPA or higher)
- no check airman experience (check airman was the magic ticket, or so we were told)
- a lot of turboprop PIC time (doesn't count)
- had been terminated from a job (not a flying job, but a termination = kiss of death)
- no military (Delta only hires military)

The point is, I am the poster child of "not a Delta pilot" and yet here I am. I know a lot of people who are in the same boat. I applied, hustled at job fairs, got into the training department, worked really hard at making that application sharp, and got the email. Your friend can too. But it's more than just applying. Get the letters of recommendation, do the job fairs when they start up again, and honestly, cast a wide net. Delta may not be the landing spot, but United, American, FedEx, UPS, JetBlue, who knows who thinks he'd be a good fit at their airline?

i have heard it’s less “too many hours” and more “no new type ratings/upgrade in the past 5 ish years” that keep people from getting the call. But that was just rumor.

This is proof that dreams can come true if you try hard enough and don’t give up!

(See bold).

Isn't that still a pretty small minority of folks though? I spent a lot of time at the regional's, and occasionally you would hear about a no PIC time FO getting snapped up, and everyone would come unglued about it (And I guess I kinda understand, I went out and earned my PIC time too, so to see a much less experienced candidate get the chance but you havent yet). But in my experience it was still a relative rarity. Or maybe I just wasn't paying hard enough attention.

my new hire class has like 1 person out of over 40 who had 0 TPIC. But they had gone right seat regional- right seat LCC- DAL

Delta will hire people all sorts of backgrounds, lower time, high time, corporate, cargo, military. FAA violations, terminations, etc. It's all about how you approach and discuss it in the interview because think they want someone who shows maturity, takes responsibly for their choices in life and isn't trying to hide anything.

If someone stayed at a regional for 15 years when hiring opportunities and other places came and went, but said, "well, yes, I could of come to Delta 8 years ago but I was raising my kids/caring for a sick relative/financially couldn't make the jump/had other things I was doing but now I feel that I'm ready. I do bring good experience and some seasoning for my years flying the CRJ. I flew into many of Delat's hub airports but also did non-tower operations into small cities, which I think is a great variety of experience to bring to Delta" that answer will probably go over well.

If he said, "well, I didn't come to Delta 8 years ago because I didn't want to jerk gear for some 35 year old Captain who was my FO years ago. But now my regional looks to be on the rocks and basically I need another job, so I figured I'd try Delta. I mean, I've really been working for you at your wholly-owned regional forever. I'll fit right as an FO until I can upgrade again." it might be a different outcome in the interview.

It's all about how to respond to your background. No one is perfect - most everyone has something in their background that can be discussed at the interview. It's how you respond to it and explain it.

Agree with everything you said, but there’s a big hurdle in getting the call so you are able to explain everything as you said. Big difference between getting the call and interview performance. Some guys may look great on paper, but interview horribly. Other guys may not be the best on paper, but be personable, articulate, generally great to fly a trip with, etc.

*guys being gender neutral*

MAKE DELTA TELL YOU "NO" then try again (or go to United which seems to be on a better run lately).

There have been many good replies in this thread. No need to reiterate what they have written. I'd just add

"I have a lot of hours because I like to fly."

Frankly, this airline needs more pilots that like to fly.

actually you bring up a great point! I know a sticking point in interviews are guys who only fly 100-200 hours a year. It's one thing to work in the sim from time to time, but if that's where you make your home at the regionals, you're going to have a hard time explaining why it's been a lifelong goal to fly Delta airplanes.

I had the same issue. I was told I couldn't fly or be and NFO because I had walleye vision. Subsequently I went the civilian route.