Yeah, I think you just hit the nail on the head. Well done.

 

Delta has 10,000 applicants that can all fly airplanes. There is a reason they don't do a sim ride at the interview. They want people who have that "group hug" mentality. Is that the right way to hire pilots? Not sure. There are HR people out there much smarter than me, but for now it seems to be working for Delter.

Delta wants to hire pilots that won't say, "I can't help you, I'm here to fly the planes from A to B," when a customer approaches them about anything and everything relating to their flight. They want you to "group hug" all of your customers. If you aren't on board with that, that's great. Just don't complain about Delta's hiring process if you aren't.

That sums it up. "Group hug" is the culture Delta wants. If that's not you're kind of culture then maybe another airline would be a better fit for you.

 

Ha! Then they should be recruiting from large charter companies because we can fly AND know how to treat some of the most demanding people on earth with kit gloves.

 

If this is the case you'd think they would like corparate guys. The irony is they don't like us corparate folks at all. This came strait from the horses mouth. The recruiter claims it's "harder to verify training".

 

I think you are both right. Corporate flying definitely involves challenges both in the air and on the ground. I don't know why corporate dudes don't get more love.

 

In another forum there is a thread saying Delta recruiters at a recent job fair said an applicant is not required to disclose checkride failures on the application, if they were under part 141 (including end of course rides) and there wasn't a pink slip issued. Has anyone else heard this from Delta recruiters?

 

I agree with you that corporate pilot work involves a tremendously higher level of customer service than 121. I started in corporate flying before moving to cargo then to a regional. Corporate is where I learned about customer service and it has stayed with me till today. I don't understand not being interested in corporate pilots, it would be interesting to find out the angle at which delta approaches that philosophy.

 

For not being interested in corporate pilots I seem to have a lot of copilots with that background.

 

IMO...once your stats trigger an interview, Delta and their HR Dept hire personalities. They are looking for individuals who will be able to sit next to each other for 12 hours at a time. Flying experience will get you noticed on paper...that is about it. Military, civilian, corporate, space shuttle...doesn't matter once you get the interview...they know you can fly, be taught Delta procedures...they only are looking for personalities. IMO that is why no sim ride. Besides...people ace sim rides by practicing profiles if given the opportunities and financial resource to rent sim time prior to interview...not necessarily an even playing field for all.

 

I hope your right and that they are looking more into the corporate and charter guys. Maybe it is an old philosophy that recently changed......it makes sense to hire us as much as possible, if they keep hiring all the regional guys there will not be anybody to fly those feeder routes. In fact logically, if you hire a lot of corporate you will gain more pax, (high paying first class customers mind you). I know that all you need is a commercial ticket to fly corporate but trust me, most of these owners would never put themselves or their family on an airplane with someone with minimal experience.