My understanding was that letters on airline apps dont factor into getting a Delta interview invite. Unlike United where letters of rec count towards “points”. The delta letters would be reviewed if you make it to the interview process. But someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

 

Can't say for sure but I had exactly 0 letters when I got an invite to interview/ hired by the widget 3 years ago.

 

There are 2 hoops to get through at Delta. The first hoop is getting your app pulled and scored. The second hoop is then getting a high enough score on that review to warrant an interview offer.

An "internal rec", as I'll call it, gets you through hoop #1, guaranteed. It has absolutely nothing to do with airlineapps. Rather, a Delta pilot has a way to email the pilot recruiting team your name, and they will then review your app within 30 days. The nature of the email sent by the Delta pilot has no bearing whatsoever other than getting through hoop #1. It can simply state your name and maybe some other basic identifying information, or it can be the most flowery, glowing review ever written. All it does is get your app reviewed.

A "Letter of Recommendation" is an actual "letter" written by someone (anyone, Delta pilot or otherwise) that is electronically submitted and attached to your airlineapps application. This is the flowery "he's the best pilot/parent/volunteer/whatever blah blah stuff. These letters only assist in getting through hoop #2. To what degree, we don't really know, other than to make sure you meet the requirements posted on the letter of recommendation section (I think at least one person has to have known you at least 10 years??). Certainly having a handful from Delta pilots would probably look good, as well as others from other airlines and even outside aviation.

As you can see there is no connection between the two. A Delta pilot can write both an internal rec and a LoR, or just one or the other. As has been stated your app can only be scored once per year, so make sure you specify what you are asking a Delta pilot for, or else he/she may turn in an internal rec when all you wanted at the time was an LoR because your app wasn't ready for prime time yet.

 

Yea I had no letters , just the internal email from a friend.

 

No internal either for me.

 

It's certainly possible to get an interview "cold call" without an internal rec. We've probably hired thousands that way. You just have no clue when that review might happen, if ever. The internal rec is your sure-fire way to make sure the review happens. Once the career expos get back up and running that is another way, assuming you do decently well in your face-to-face.

 

Word on the street is the DAL ATP-CTP course is no longer a guaranteed app pull either. Take it for what it’s worth.

 

For clarification, there is no limit on how many applications a given Delta pilot can have scored in a year, just that each person can only be done once a year regardless.


The person scoring the applications does have access to the letters so it can factor into how they rate the application, think if it's really close to going one way or the other.

 

I will let everyone know my experience with the internal soon. I should be getting one submitted in the next few days.

 

Depending on your qualifications, you may not have anything to report. I've had people get called 2 weeks later all the way to not getting called at all. Sometimes it takes 8-9 months.