You stated the obvious here. How in the world would someone make a decision of where to go based on assumptions? A pilot has to make decisions based on what he knows today. There's no other way. Yes, Compass is great right now and so was Mesaba when I was hired there in 2007. I get it. But to look at 9E and say things are TERRIBLE there now but MIGHT get better 3 years from now is asinine. No way could a rational person look at these circumstances and decide to go to 9E based on what they think could happen. They look at the now and go with it.

Again, this is not a sprint, it is a marathon. I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid but if your end goal is Delta and you lived in NY, I don't see a reason to go anywhere but 9E. Of course you make decisions on what is known today, Delta has put it in writing to offer a job to any new hire. At a time when Delta has 10,000 resumes on file that is huge. In the end that offer is just as good as any contract Delta/American has signed with Compass securing the flying you are currently doing. If you want to fly for Delta and you are not a military pilot, there is really only one path, work for 9E. I expect Delta to double down on this program this next year making it even harder for non 9E pilots to get hired.

3 years ago pinnacle had an industry leading contract, airplanes still arriving, hiring ongoing, and upgrade times dropping. My my how things change. 5 years ago nobody would have even thought about a 3-way regional merger. This industry is completely unpredictable.

Many accredited university aviation programs have bridge agreements with various regional airlines. As we've seen, these programs which place an emphasis on "preferred hiring" are by no means sufficient to provide for a reliable staffing model at the regional level.

I dabbled in sales for a few years, and one important thing I learned was that a lead and a sale are two entirely different things. While Delta may have 10,000 resumes on file, that doesn't equate to 10,000 new hires ready for class next week. Many regionals have come to understand this problem from an intimate perspective in the recent past.

While a company may have a preference for your education or experience, in general the emphasis is on qualifications and aptitude. Given the projected retirements and growth industry-wide, I don't imagine the emphasis will be fundamentally different in the future.

I honestly don't think the managers realize the 10,000 resumes on their desk are also the same resumes on desks at United, American, Delta etc.

Yes, they will! I know more then one person who went to the SSP and the interviewer knew things about that person that was never put on the application or was in his file. Delta knows everything. Thats just the fact.

I guess I don't understand how you can describe this as a marathon when you can't possibly imagine or know what will be coming down the shoot even a month from now. How is that a marathon? It's a sprint to the best regional at the time. Right now, sprint to Compass...sprint away form 9E. You can't marathon a regional airline. Impossible. Your assumption about 9E being about the only way to Delta in a year or so is far fetched and a little comical. The ETD is a slap in the face and a disgrace. No respectable regional pilot can say one good thing about that. It's all smoke a mirrors. Delta is cunning and ruthless. Don't get caught up in these lame programs that won't work. They serve a purpose for now...that is to get more guys in the door to fly the crappy 200s on reserve in NYC until they're all gone.

The main issue with the EtD is that as a new hire with a Delta CJO, you don't have the protection of the mainline union. Your future Delta job is basically at the mercy of management while you reside at 9E. Every pilot here knew the EtD would not work out the way that management wanted, in fact I think it turned away more pilots than the old hiring process. They didn't listen to us, now here we are.

Judging by the number of "my regional is better than your regional" or "I make $1 more per hour than you you loser" posts on APC, I really don't think it is that obvious to the average poster on here….either those that haven't been in the industry long enough for their regional to be one of those "bottom feeders" (it goes in cycles as you know) or those that choose to forget it because thumping their chest makes them feel better.