Boomer

I'm aware of that, but I find it ironic that the program Delta had in place and decided to sell off is now being considered as a possible solution in the future.

Also ironic is how the one-time cash cow that was CAA was sold off because nobody wanted to pay $100,000 to be a regional pilot forever.

One more irony is that Delta would consider a second-year regional pilot with a 4-year degree would be a good answer to their future staffing problems when there are already about 15,000 pilots at ASA, CMR, SKW, RAH, XJet, PSA, Mesa, Mesaba, AirWisc, Compass, TSA, etc, etc, etc, that already meet those requirements.

This "news article" is dripping with so much irony it's ironic.

KC10 FATboy

You guys are assuming that all of those guys building time at the regionals are hireable. I suspect many of those pilots would not be for a variety of reasons. And it just isn't a civilian issue. When I interviewed with DAL, 3 military folks were not hired. I know several military pilots who have issues in their flying history that wouldn't make them hireable as well.

kingairfun

I've got north of 7000 hrs. A spotless record, no training failures, multiple jet ratings and nearly all my time is in jets. (RJ, and corporate). 10 years of multi crew flying, nearly as much "glass" time, hired at my first airline at 22 etc.. connections at many airlines. No DWI's, no criminal record, Dean's List type grades, easy to get along with and many interests outside of aviation.

and so far...nothing...

It's not all a matter of not being hireable..... Unfortunately many of us are from towns/backgrounds where we don't know multiple people at high positions at the majors (IE:my neighbors aren't UPS captains or Delta captains)... I know mostly FO's at Delta,SWA,CO,JB..they have very little pull because of their relatively short employment there. Right now the majors have their pick of applicants, and it seems that those with the multiple connections get the interviews. (which is fine), but they miss out on very qualified people that just don't have as many quality connections due to background or bad luck.

I think if the majors looked a little closer they would find many many qualified and eager applicants.

Tony Nelson

"One of the first goals would be to build an outreach programme focused on middle- and high schools in an effort to stir up enthusiasm for the pilot profession."

That's going to be pretty tough. "Stir up enthusiasm" for a 20K a year job where they treat you like $hit. Good luck.

80ktsClamp

You may want to check for errors and inconstencies on your application. If you've got even just one rec, they have been known to call. Knowing a captain at DL is a fallacy.. Several guys with like qualifications that you state here got interviews with my rec alone. Two recs seems to up the chances significantly, and it doesn't matter who they are from. This latest 2010 round was very selective and the process was changed slightly. I'm hearing it will return to the way it was on the 07/08 cycle on the next hiring cycle.

How much of that 7000 hours is captain time?

acl65pilot

Bingo!

We may have 7500-18,000 apps on file, but only about 2500-3000 are even interviewable. Of that we plan on a 50% pass rate. Do the math, either DAL changes their hiring criteria or they have to find that quality somewhere else.

scambo1

I second that. An internal rec is an internal rec...Okay some are better than others, like if you got one from the VP of Flt Ops. By and large though, it doesnt matter if its a Sr Capt or a Jr FO, if they took the time and effort to write you a good recommendation you are off to a good start.

acl65pilot

Delta may, but they have to deal with pulling the qualified applicants out of their 7500 strong DCI operation. They are going to want quality pilots flying those jets too, and I bet that is the bigger issue.

TrojanCMH

What do you mean by "not interviewable"? Do they not have enough Turbine time? No college degree? Criminal records? I just don't see how so many people would take the time to apply when they aren't even "interviewable." If they want pilots they either need to lower their standards or raise the pay to steal away other mainline pilots. I know plenty of good people they got turned down for whatever reason and are at other mainline carriers and some that went to Northwest and ironically are now at Delta.

DAL 88 Driver

That's easy, ACL. Fix the compensation (i.e. just restore it back to what it was for decades) and bring most of the DCI flying back in-house (i.e. Delta passengers should be flying on Delta airplanes with real Delta pilots)... and this problem goes away. It really comes down to basic supply and demand and the laws of economics. Oh... and there's also this little old saying, "you get what you pay for."