No, the Delta pilot could recommend as many applicants as he/she wanted. No change there.

It was (and still is) the applicant that was limited to one app review every 12 months. No change there either. (Disclaimer, there have been a few anomalies where an applicant got their app re-reviewed’early’, but that was/is not the policy. They just got lucky).

The only change is the method.

I thought, under the old system, a pilot could write as many LORs as they wanted but only got one “silver bullet” every 12 months. Guess I was mistaken.

also with the applicant pool shrinking and us needing more pilots than ever, I wonder how much they are sticking to the 12 month app review. Especially if the reason they would not get the call is low hours.

I think it can be reviewed every 3 months from what I gather.

We have 2 different commute policies, one requires second flight on Delta and one doesn't. Please don't conflate them as it's important to make the distinction.

We have pilots doing 2 leg commutes. If going through ORD you'd need to use the call in honest policy (no delta flight required) for at least the first leg. Biggest thing is you need 2 flights for your second leg even if you use your backup. Eventually you'll be able to be based in msp, dtw, or atl though and may be able to use a direct flight for at least one of the 2 if needed. It may not be the easiest commute and you may have more days of having to come in day prior, but it's definately doable and still better than a regional schedule. It may be tough to sit long call at home but that's without looking at how your ord option actually works timing wise, and as somone who came from a place without long call, it wasn't too painful to me to just use a crashpad on long call as you still get a respectable amount of time at home.

Also, its only around a 4 hr drive to MSP, so once MSP based you could potentially use driving as your commute or a backup. We have a bunch of pilots in Seattle with similar or longer drives who drive their commute.

Thank you all for the responses. Could you elaborate on the difference between the two policies?

I’m excited to interview but the only reservation I have is commuting at DL. Trying to weigh holding out for a bite from UA or AA to get ORD and simplify/drive the commute for the rest of my career.

As I’ll be a DL commuter in the near future, what are the two different policies?

Unable to commute requires second flight be delta so you can be positive spaced and is an FOM policy. Call in honest is the contractual policy and only requires two flights from any airline. There are some other requirements but those are the big differences.

Sorry for the delay, explanation above for the policies. You could still always leave delta, although it looks like MSP is drivable in a pinch and could be your CIH backup plan.

I have heard AA giving WO pilots mainline interviews if they get a UA or DL CJO. That may be worth a shot.