saab340driver

I agree. The DAL feeders have a tough sell to prospective new pilots when paired side by side with the AA regionals. At this point, an Endeavor recruiter can't give a prospective new hire confidence that the DGI is worth the commitment to choose 9E over an AA flow feeder. Those recruiting for Piedmont, PSA, and Envoy can sell a seniority number at AA and the "last interview you'll have" ...it's a great sell at college campuses across the country. DAL would be wise to rethink the present "career progression" path with 9E and move towards something that will fit the coming age of the pilot shortage.

I just don't think the DGI sell is going to work long term as an effective recruiting method/sell for the possibility of a job with DAL. Folks are on to the SSP blunder and word is on the street that the DGI could have the potential to be another bad sell with a 4 out of 10 interview pass rate. Not sure current or future FO's will pass up other opportunities to move on in the next 12 months with those odds.
Just a hunch.

CBreezy

I think we are all pretending like a flow is the end-all to regional staffing. Republic, Skywest, and Mesa have no flows but have no problem staffing. A flow is nice and a definite perk, but clearly not having one isn't a deterrent.

GogglesPisano

Yep. The most unprofessional pilots are in the US. Without a doubt. And every last one actually thinks they're funny.

Mesabah

That's not the point, there is no career path to AA from 9E. If you go to an AA wholly owned, you have 3 majors to potentially get hired at. Furthermore, your options get incredibly small if you fail your SSP/DGI interview. Why would a quality pilot choose to fly Delta passengers, and we fly a lot of Delta pilots around, now that regional cities have mainline flights.

We have had one pilot from 9E get hired at AA that I know of, and he was military. Whereas dozens of former AA wholly owned pilots got hired at Delta in the past 2 years.

272922

Rumor around the interwebz is that you guys are negotiating pay rates in lieu of those phat bonuses ya'll are getting. Regardless of the status of that mythical unicorn called flow, solidifying compensation beyond 2018 would certainly help you guys.

At some point all the supposed grown ups running regional airlines need to figure out that regional CA needs to meet or exceed LCC FO pay, otherwise all those LCCs will continue poaching FOs and Jr CAs.

CBreezy

Okay, so what's your point?

JesuitValen

He made it.

The smart play (if starting fresh) is go to a AA regional so the flow is in the back pocket, and delta has a history of hiring from the aa regionals. Potential newhires will see that, most of them that have played a card game once in their lives will understand the advantage, and interview accordingly.

It is a hypothesis, we will see.

Juggy Gales

My experience reinforces my belief that Delta resists hiring 9E pilots OTS. Retired military, all fixed wing, fighters and transports, military instructor pilot, post-maintenance functional check pilot, CFI. Attended career fairs, letters of rec on file, app reviewed by checked and set. No failures or blemishes. Crickets. 9E is an excellent place to work, but if your goal is employment at Delta, I would go to an AA WO instead, even with a military background.

block30

That's not a rumor, both the union and management acknowledge that.

MountainWaves

There is a 9e guy that doesn't meet any of the above mentioned criteria in class at AA as we speak. Someome cracked the code.