This AMR stuff is a heck of a lot more relevant to us than most of the stuff that's discussed on this thread. If we can tolerate discussions of college football here (yawn), we can certainly tolerate a few posts about the merger of two of our competitors.





Side boob, underboob, and the honey badger are always relevant.

I've been told that "close connections" don't mean a whole heck of a lot at DAL.
It's nowhere near a nepotism clause like they have at UPS (I think), but I do believe the are leery of hiring on the basis of being family.
At best, I've hear it may help one get an interview, but those who attempt to lean on that relationship during the panel review will more than likely have a disappointing day.

The hiring is supposed to get pretty aggressive towards the end of this decade, so I imagine total time minimums/requirements may reduce. One thing about DAL is that they look at the quality of the flight time, and not just the quantity.

Recommendations and personal references will "help" someone who is close to the minimums, especially if you manage to get a MD88 Stamp of Approval from FTB.


Hope this helps out....Good Luck :)

Interesting points. For the vast majority without family connections that comes as a nice relief.

I wonder how one would get that "quality" when the most common time for us civilians is from an "insert 50-70 seat RJ." Not saying it isn't quality, but also very common.

OH COME ON!!! AMR stuff has nothing to do with us? Are you on the Dalpa NC? It sounds like it. Now our NC has some extra work to do. No more "The NMB will get involved because AA asked for too much....." They won't be paid severe BK wages if this Parker deal goes through, and it looks like he is well on his way to pleasing the creditors (Boeing/Airbus), the Gov't (keeps HQ in DFW) while saving 6200 of the proposed 13,000 job cuts, and the big unions. The new AA/US numbers have just replaced the old baseline for calculating our raises. It's the cost of doing business. And, the more of a raise we get, the more it will affect the new AA when they have to match it 2 years after DOS. Our guys had better start looking at this soon. NO EXCUSES.

Both true and not true.

A quality internal recommendation using the Delta.com e-mail address used to mean quite a bit in the ranking. Characteristics of a "quality" internal rec:

• Pilot who has flown with you
• Specific about your qualifications / skills
• Well written

However, once invited for an interview, the actual process is very objective. IMHO Delta runs a thorough, fair and friendly interview process. Knowing nearly immediately if you made the cut is very nice. No waiting for two weeks ...

The whole "quality" of flight time response was meant for military fighter pilots, for example, overall their total flight time might be low since fighter jets tend to have shorter missions, but obviously that shouldn't disqualify a candidate on that basis. I think that is why DAL has never used "hard mins", instead they prefer to get well rounded applicants while using total time as just another metric.

It's not just about flight experience either, building a good professional resume/background can speak volumes.

Tsquare,

I'm all about keeping things in the threads where they belong, but "how AMR affects DAL" is just as valid as anything else L&G. When there is a long-established thread that discusses this, and some hard-core people keep spamming this thread about how American affects us, then you'll have a point.

Rest assured that, somehow, this will morph into a DPA/ALPA discussion; I don't know how yet, but it will, so you'll probably be correct in pretty short order.

Cory,

It isn't required. Although everyone has "some" just by virtue of getting their ratings and the ATP requires a minimum of 250. The folks who had very little PIC typically had their ATP, even if they had to get it on their own dime.

Good friends with (and recommended) one guy who had very little (<500 I think PIC). He is an outstanding pilot, great all around guy, had a nearly 20 year history with Delta in maintenance, pilot ground training, and management. Flew for a couple of Delta subsidiaries and got just to the cusp of upgrade when Delta would keep calling him back for projects for big D. So, Delta was kind of responsible for his lack of 121 PIC, although he had about 5,000 (or more) 121 SIC.
He was a bit intimidated (as we all were) by the interview pool. In our group almost all had Master's degrees and a good percentage of really sharp F18, F15, IP types. He sailed right through the interview and did great in training. He literally had taught some of his Line Check guys back when he was a ground instructor. Good goes round.

People hear stories that begin "some body got hired" without knowing the whole picture. Delta looks at the whole picture.

17:37 EDT here.

Notice we have not heard a peep as of late out of the usual acolytes that have been lowering expectations over the last few months.

I.E. Mr. "11%" et al.

I am thinking they are cranking up the spin machine and market testing their new sound bites amongst themselves before they are released to the line swine.

Bill, I am certain you are right. My bet is Parker has planned well and will pull this off. Airbus and Boeing are going to approve. Even if for some remote reason he chokes on it, his offer to the APA and the LCC pilots is a valid data point and valuation.

Much like UAL's Delta dot, this will change negotiations and will put more pressure on RA. He is in the on deck circle at this point and will be pressured to make a counter move. HA? ALK? A competing bid for AMR? JBLU? (God forbid the SLI mess that would bring)

Point is, we have an excellent manadate and argument for our clawing back our benefits that we gave to them as a loan in their time of need. We now see they are enjoying record profits. DALPA, use the increased leverage to do it and drive this deal home.