Any "Latest & Greatest" about Delta?
03-22-2010, 07:35 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2009
Position: right for a long, long time
Posts: 2,642
That's right. Super wasn't hired by Delta. He was hired by Northwest who hired on qualifications rather than who he knew. I can't wait to see how you guys treat the Compass pilots that flow up without a degree. When Super started at Northwest, he more than exceeded the competitive minimum requirements at Delta.
That is a bush league thing to say and insulting to your co-workers.
I think you owe a mea culpa.
The only negative experience I had was when a Delta first officer asked me where all my flight attendants were. I proceeded to tell him that a DC-9-30 only had 2 flights attendants since it only had 100 seats. He said we looked like a DCI crew. I did not take it well and drilled him on scope.
I'm with you on this though: "Not one more seat, not one more pound, not one more plane."
03-22-2010, 07:39 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2007
Position: Legacy FO
Posts: 4,101
I've flown with my fair share of relatively new hires at DAL, and they've all had very solid resumes, so I'd say that Delta hired based on qualifications, too. Only one guy that I've flown with mentioned knowing somebody.
Granted, I was hired a long time ago (1987), but back then, it was Northwest that liked an application to include letters of recommendation. (My LOR came from your most recent MEC guy, Jim V--).
Granted, I was hired a long time ago (1987), but back then, it was Northwest that liked an application to include letters of recommendation. (My LOR came from your most recent MEC guy, Jim V--).
However experienced you were or your background, the deciding factor in being called to an interview was that all of us knew someone here at the company. I believe knowing someone is what pushed our package from the qualified pool to the invite for an interview stack.
03-22-2010, 07:45 AM
Happy to be here
Joined APC: Jun 2006
Position: A-320A
Posts: 18,563
That's right. Super wasn't hired by Delta. He was hired by Northwest who hired on qualifications rather than who he knew. I can't wait to see how you guys treat the Compass pilots that flow up without a degree. When Super started at Northwest, he more than exceeded the competitive minimum requirements at Delta. We are learning really quick that the Northwest contract was pretty equal to the Delta contract overall. Those hourly rates are deceiving.
Lets put this one to rest. DAL probably hires differently but who cares we all of seniority numbers that are attached to the Delta mainline list. Any new hires will be hired the way Delta wants to do it. If that means standing on your head and shooting water up your nose, we will have 12000+ applicants willing to do it. What I was hired with does not matter, it got me though the door and the rest is history.
On another note, I have had mostly positive experiences interacting with Delta crews. The only negative experience I had was when a Delta first officer asked me where all my flight attendants were. I proceeded to tell him that a DC-9-30 only had 2 flights attendants since it only had 100 seats. He said we looked like a DCI crew. I did not take it well and drilled him on scope.
03-22-2010, 07:47 AM
Happy to be here
Joined APC: Jun 2006
Position: A-320A
Posts: 18,563
I'm a recent new hire at Delta. My class was rather large as there were roughly 60 new hires and a few furlough recallers. Of the new hires, about 40% of the class were military. Of the military, I think we were 50/50 on the number of fighter / heavy backgrounds. Looking at the non-military folks (60%), most were from a regional carrier and were Captains for several years. Everyone was very experienced. In fact, as a military guy, I was very impressed with the backgrounds of the civilian pilots.
However experienced you were or your background, the deciding factor in being called to an interview was that all of us knew someone here at the company. I believe knowing someone is what pushed our package from the qualified pool to the invite for an interview stack.
However experienced you were or your background, the deciding factor in being called to an interview was that all of us knew someone here at the company. I believe knowing someone is what pushed our package from the qualified pool to the invite for an interview stack.
Contacts are a way to open a door, the rest is up to you.
03-22-2010, 08:54 AM
Underboob King
Joined APC: May 2005
Position: Guppy Commander
Posts: 4,412
That was the thing with NWA, it wasnt about your connections so much as it was if you met their requirements. It was explained to me by a number of people how they filtered their applicants and supposedly it was some sort of point based system. You got X amount of points for different things. If you got a score of 29 your app went into the 29 pile. If you got a 28 then you went into that pile. If you had a recommendation then you went to the top of the 28 pile but not in front of the 29's. So recommendations helped but didnt pull you to the top of everyone.
Now this is how it was explained to me so i dont know how accurate it is but the point is, NWA had a picture of whom they were looking for. The people that got called all met specific requirements to get selected. I didnt know a single person at NWA and honestly didnt think i'd get called because of that but thats not how their system worked. None the less, I'm happy to be here!
Now this is how it was explained to me so i dont know how accurate it is but the point is, NWA had a picture of whom they were looking for. The people that got called all met specific requirements to get selected. I didnt know a single person at NWA and honestly didnt think i'd get called because of that but thats not how their system worked. None the less, I'm happy to be here!
03-22-2010, 09:06 AM
Underboob King
Joined APC: May 2005
Position: Guppy Commander
Posts: 4,412
I'm unconfused now You were talking about my Signature lol
For some reason in my profile set up the box that allows you to see "Signatures" was unchecked and thus i didnt even know that i had a signature that was shown.
It has been corrected now
You were talking about my Signature lolFor some reason in my profile set up the box that allows you to see "Signatures" was unchecked and thus i didnt even know that i had a signature that was shown.
It has been corrected now
03-22-2010, 09:22 AM
Can't abide NAI
Joined APC: Jun 2007
Position: Douglas Aerospace post production Flight Test & Work Around Engineering bulletin dissembler
Posts: 12,030
That's right. Super wasn't hired by Delta. He was hired by Northwest who hired on qualifications rather than who he knew. I can't wait to see how you guys treat the Compass pilots that flow up without a degree. When Super started at Northwest, he more than exceeded the competitive minimum requirements at Delta.
- Delta had(s) the most objective hiring process I've ever seen with procedures and safeguards that would make it impossible for someone unqualified to run the gauntlet. Most of my class had over 5,500 hours, 121 PIC and a Master's. NWA and Compass also had objective hiring processes and I've not heard of an unqualified Compass pilot. My understanding is that NWA managed that program knowing fully well that those Compass pilots would be NWA pilots sooner rather than later.
- It impressed me that "knowing someone" wasn't the secret handshake. In fact there were complaints about the lack of "silver bullets" and "black balls." The process used was so objective that deficiencies were obvious and could be specifically identified. Unlike the Fortune 50 Company I once worked for where a qualified candidate was passed over because my boss didn't like the applicant's worn flight bag. He thought a pilot should have a shiny (new) bag.
- The Delta new hires were significantly older than the 2007 NWA new hires. Their education and experience statistics reflect the fact the f-DAL guys were on average older and more experienced. (IMHO it would be better to be young than have a fat logbook when we both have the same job, so that's a win for the younger guys)
- Delta had pilots who failed the Delta interview for objective deficiencies who were hired by NWA. (and I imagine there are some Delta pilots that NWA passed on)
- It does not matter.
We are learning really quick that the Northwest contract was pretty equal to the Delta contract overall. Those hourly rates are deceiving.
On another note, I have had mostly positive experiences interacting with Delta crews. The only negative experience I had was when a Delta first officer asked me where all my flight attendants were. I proceeded to tell him that a DC-9-30 only had 2 flights attendants since it only had 100 seats. He said we looked like a DCI crew. I did not take it well and drilled him on scope.
On another note, I have had mostly positive experiences interacting with Delta crews. The only negative experience I had was when a Delta first officer asked me where all my flight attendants were. I proceeded to tell him that a DC-9-30 only had 2 flights attendants since it only had 100 seats. He said we looked like a DCI crew. I did not take it well and drilled him on scope.
Just saying a 4 day with a former SR-71 driver makes for interesting stories in between sterile cockpit.
Last edited by Bucking Bar; 03-22-2010 at 09:34 AM.
03-22-2010, 10:05 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2007
Position: Flying the SEC
Posts: 2,350
IAH;
You are correct. Early last year our leaders were confident we would make a profit in 2009. Why? because with where fuel was and where our RASM was it would take a 20 point drop go to in to the red. Well....That happened as we were all living though one of the biggest meltdowns in history. Greed, a quick buck and a house bigger than you know you could ever afford caused this. That is not the point though.
We had to take capacity out of the system to stabilize our RASM. They were very proactive in that regard. Leading the industry by a quarter on some cuts. These cuts probably saved us from a lot more red ink at a minimum. Not furloughing made sense too. Why? When markets crater like they do, the uptick like we have seen generally will not equate to an ROI on the furloughs. CAL is just trying to keep those guys on the street long enough to break even on the furloughs. They need them now.
Going forward, I do agree that we will see added capacity in our system. 50 seat RJ's do not work. The 70 does not work so they are trying to add a premium cabin to them. The 76 seat works for now, but when a 100+ seat airframe is added the 76 seat jet will be dead as well. We know there will be a fight, so let expect it.
I know we will see some rationalizing of DCI as early as this winter. A lot will change as capacity returns and with it congestion. The old adage of a five pound bag with 10 pounds of stuff comes to mind. That is why the 100 seat jet will be very important going forward. More capacity on the same amount of flights.
You are correct. Early last year our leaders were confident we would make a profit in 2009. Why? because with where fuel was and where our RASM was it would take a 20 point drop go to in to the red. Well....That happened as we were all living though one of the biggest meltdowns in history. Greed, a quick buck and a house bigger than you know you could ever afford caused this. That is not the point though.
We had to take capacity out of the system to stabilize our RASM. They were very proactive in that regard. Leading the industry by a quarter on some cuts. These cuts probably saved us from a lot more red ink at a minimum. Not furloughing made sense too. Why? When markets crater like they do, the uptick like we have seen generally will not equate to an ROI on the furloughs. CAL is just trying to keep those guys on the street long enough to break even on the furloughs. They need them now.
Going forward, I do agree that we will see added capacity in our system. 50 seat RJ's do not work. The 70 does not work so they are trying to add a premium cabin to them. The 76 seat works for now, but when a 100+ seat airframe is added the 76 seat jet will be dead as well. We know there will be a fight, so let expect it.
I know we will see some rationalizing of DCI as early as this winter. A lot will change as capacity returns and with it congestion. The old adage of a five pound bag with 10 pounds of stuff comes to mind. That is why the 100 seat jet will be very important going forward. More capacity on the same amount of flights.
As for the uptick in 2010, I'm not as confident as you. The fiasco of yesterday is going to have implications that reach far beyond "health care". Our economy is set to collapse if these taxes and spending actually take effect. Our industry will be especially hard hit as our revenue is totally dependent on discretionary dollars of the public and business. God I hope I'm wrong.
03-22-2010, 10:17 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2007
Position: Flying the SEC
Posts: 2,350
Going to have to disagree with you there. A couple of points:
Just saying a 4 day with a former SR-71 driver makes for interesting stories in between sterile cockpit.
- The Delta new hires were significantly older than the 2007 NWA new hires. Their education and experience statistics reflect the fact the f-DAL guys were on average older and more experienced. (IMHO it would be better to be young than have a fat logbook when we both have the same job, so that's a win for the younger guys)
- It does not matter.
Just saying a 4 day with a former SR-71 driver makes for interesting stories in between sterile cockpit.
So Super was hired because of his qualifications, it was his boyish good looks!
03-22-2010, 10:35 AM
Happy to be here
Joined APC: Jun 2006
Position: A-320A
Posts: 18,563
You are right except about the bold part. Inept and corrupt government policies caused this, not the market or Capitalism. The only greed was the politicians greed in the number of votes they could buy.
As for the uptick in 2010, I'm not as confident as you. The ***** of yesterday is going to have implications that reach far beyond "health care". Our economy is set to collapse if these taxes and spending actually take effect. Our industry will be especially hard hit as our revenue is totally dependent on discretionary dollars of the public and business. God I hope I'm wrong.
As for the uptick in 2010, I'm not as confident as you. The ***** of yesterday is going to have implications that reach far beyond "health care". Our economy is set to collapse if these taxes and spending actually take effect. Our industry will be especially hard hit as our revenue is totally dependent on discretionary dollars of the public and business. God I hope I'm wrong.
I was referring to the housing crisis.
As for the rest, I will not let it spiral in to a political debate that is banned from the TOS. I will only state that the taxes et al will levied incrementally. (Just like a lobster in a pot. Never wise to throw one in to boiling water as they will jump out, just put em in a nice warm pot a water and add heat. The pain is hardly noticeable)
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