Hello everyone, I am prior military and current 121 at a regional. I have just filled out my airlineapps right now for Delta. My buddy is saying it is imperative that I have a contact within the company for the letter of recommendation but I don't know anyone that works at Delta. What should I do? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

No one here knows the code, but I think internal is definitely good. Do some research into your network. If you were prior mil you almost certainly know someone at Delta, you just don't realize it. Love or hate facebook, but it's amazing for finding people. Do some research. Good luck.

Unless you just started both the military and 121 industry a year ago or less, you know people at any US airline with over 12,000 pilots. Leverage your network, Kevin Bacon style.

I did just start in the industry less than a year ago. Military for 7. Guess it's time to go jump on some delta flights!

With 7 years in the military I bet you know more people at DL than you may realize. And you definitely know some. Network network network.

I'm not sure what jumping on a Delta flight is going to do for you networking wise. What might be more productive is finding old recall rosters and googling/facebook'ing names. If you spent 7 years flying mil, you definitely know someone at Delta. Quite possibly several someones. You need to figure out who that is.

And picking random jumpseats is probably not the most efficient way to do it.

I was recently given a CJO with NO internal recommendations from DAL. I did have 5 very solid recommendations from guys that I have extensive time and experience with, to include combat.

Also, I never saw DAL specifically at any job fairs.

But yes, network. An internal rec will get your application looked at, so make sure your timing of the internal recommendation is right and your application is perfect. Pulling that trigger too early (incomplete app, outside 60 days from your availability date) might result in your app going back in the stack.

Thanks for the advice.

And as I keep telling folks, there are unicorns among us. . . but I wouldn't hedge my bets on this technique.

LinkedIn is awesome for this. You need to connect with lots of people though to really leverage your networking. Start with guys in your current squadron, friends, relatives and then start looking at the suggestions given by LinkedIn. It's amazing how quickly you'll start seeing old coworkers that are now airline pilots.

I know that I fully welcome hearing from old buds, and helping folks out is really the only reason I keep the account open, now that I have my airline job.

PS (4fans) don't limit yourself to just Delta, apply to all the majors and get a bird in hand if you can.