Do it anyway. They'll appreciate the honesty. And they won't care.

 

Yes, there is no conspiracy. The standards at mainline are higher simply because the application pool is deeper.

 

No doubt.

The conspiracy part is the ridiculous theory that somehow a trillion dollar lawsuit is looming because mainline doesn't hire a connection pilot and later something happens with that connection pilot and that is supposedly proof of known unsafe pilots being allowed to continue.

It sounds so incredibly dumb when you say it out loud, but some like to fantasize about that happening. But like I said before, unless an airline is dumb enough to stamp UNSAFE in big red block letters across an applicant's file and save it for future litigious posterity, that's a rediculous concept to even attempt to prove. Especially when there isn't even a sim ride, not that it would matter much even if there was.

There is also the cries to the high heavens about cosmic hypocrisy and about not being good enough to fly brand X's passengers even though that's the passengers they are currently flying. But it goes so much deeper than that. Yes a connection pilot flies brand X passengers. So do the international code share partners. Big deal. An airline wants to know that you are a good fit for their particular culture, training program, mentality and pilot group. Brand X doesn't care if a connection pilot abuses sick time, other than the virtual airline's block hour costs in their unrealistically low RFP bid, and they don't really care about that anyway. But brand X does care about the connection pilot's sick time use when considering them for a position at brand X. Brand X doesn't care if a connection pilot is a tool on a 4 day trip because they don't have to fly with them. But they do care when considering that pilot for the mainline.

The whole arguement is a stupid straw man intellectual red herring yet some continue to cling to it as proof of the ultimate injustices and hypocrisy in the industry when its nothing more than any other job interview. Is every brand X interview somewhat arbitrary? Of course. So is every connection interview, and every interview for any job. To some degree they are all Ms. America world peace softballs and baton whirling talent shows, but so what. Don't h8 the playa. Some brand Y pilots get hired at brand X and some don't. Some X connection pilots didn't get hired at Y connection, and some of those end up getting hired at X and not at Y.

So what. Move along, nothing to see here.

 

You don't see the hypocrisy in not being hired to fly a passenger in a big plane with the words "Delta" painted on the side but continuing to fly these exact same passengers in a small plane that says "Delta" on the side? I can't think of a better scenario to use the word (hypocrisy). The passengers all think Delta planes are flown by Delta pilots. If you don't want said pilot flying a big plane under the Delta banner then why is it okay to fly a little plane? It is the exact definition of hypocrisy.

 

Flycameron,

Thanks for the response. All the individuals that wrote my letters, to my knowledge, have a good reputation with Delta or their current company. I do have two from guys that road on my jump seat and offered to submit one after getting to know me. I know them just in passing and not very well. Not sure on them.

It took me six years on my bachelor degree. In part because I was flight training at the beginning and flying charter at the end of my college. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take a full load of courses at that time to keep up with it all. I hope this doesn't hurt me under the circumstances.

Thanks again. Any other advice or ideas you or anyone can provide I greatly appreciate. It's always good to bring up something that I could have missed. Through all this it helps me make sure all the "t's are crossed and I's are dotted". In the end it's just waiting till I score high enough to receive an invite.

Thanks again,
Lear

 

You bring up a great point about passengers thinking it is a Delta plane. A passenger recently asked me about the "Delta Connection" brand. While incurring a delay he read online about it being a connection carrier. He wanted to know why it was a "third party vendor" (his words exactly) when he bought his ticket on Delta.com. I just informed him that it's the way it has been for a while and aircraft under 100 seats were not mainline airplanes and were flown by a contracted regional carrier.

 

I am not sure that getting a LOR just from the jumpseat would really help. It may even hurt you. Just my personal advice but it almost seems like you have too many LORs. Pick the important ones from people that can attest to your flying skills and/or have known you for years.

 

Definitely thanks for the advice.

I see your point in that. I met the head guy of UAL's HR department at OBAP and he told me only having three LOR's on file with UAL may be hurting me for them. He told me to get more.

I guess 4-6 would be a good number? I've seen in the "who's been hired" forum that seems to be what many have been getting on with.

 

No, because 9E to Delta is an inter company transfer. So they can deny you for any reason. The problem is the union politics issue, it has always been that way. Not hiring you at Delta is in no way an indication they think you are unsafe.

The union issue is way more complicated than is let on, for one thing, 9E must remain ALPA for us to operate as an alter ego. If one of us goes non-ALPA, 9E must be shut down, or sold off.

 

Let's make this simple: Say a connection carrier pilot (or any other pilot for that matter) goes to his Delta interview, he's a great guy but three times during said interview, he picks his nose and eats it. I doubt that the interviewers will offer that boogger eater a job. Can he go back to his connection carrier and safely fly Delta passengers? Yes. Would you want to be in his right seat on a four day trip touching the throttles ever other leg? Doubt it.