Two recruiters from United--which ultimately hired me--told me the same thing: if you write a cover letter, do NOT use it to regurgitate what is on your resume. Use it as an opportunity to summarize the rest of what makes you "you." Talk about other characteristics/talents that will make you stand out, volunteer work you do, etc. They can then use the cover letter to more easily help recall you versus the thousands of other pilots they meet.

To do otherwise is a waste of their time and yours.

OnCenterline- Good point on not regurgitating the resume but that leads me to another question - if mentioning other talents and whatnot, just how personal should one get? I do plenty off line from work, but mostly with my family, which is well above average in size. That's something that certainly makes me stand out from the crowd, but might that not be considered too personal?

Use it as an opportunity to talk about helping coach a kids team, or volunteer in schools/church, or if you have experience in public speaking or other customer interface-type of work. You don't need to get into family stuff if you don't want to. But, if you have special needs kid/niece/nephew, and you have gotten involved in something as a result of that, then by all means discuss it. The airlines want to see that you give something back to the community without getting paid for it.

Ok. Thanks. That was my guess, but I wanted to be sure I was thinking along the right lines. Appreciate the reply...