2000 hour wonders hired at Delta

[m80drvr]

m80drvr,

I'm a known quantity to Delta. They know what they're getting. If I was coming from some RJ outfit I'm a wildcard. I'm sure they'd rather have me and my 1725 hours than that captian at Colgan.

Soooo they are getting a low time, egotistical, dumba$$.....I guess they do know what thet are getting.

 

[m80drvr]

In about 9 out of 10 cases, I'd rather be flown by the 1500 hr F16 guy.

Let's say both pilots in the above example have the same amount of natural flying ability. The training that the viper guy has been through has no equal in the civilian world. He may have some catching up to do with the glass guy in training, but will soon be outpacing him as soon as IOE. If the Viper guy can stay ahead of a single seat jet as a mission commander of a package (sts) on a red flag sortie or in actual combat, he can stay ahead of an Airbus 320 into DTW in poor wx.

So how does all that superior training, especially single seat, make you more able to fly an airliner than a properly trained and seasoned regional captain? Honestly, you must explain this to me.

I work with and train many x mil guys. They are good pilots, but no better than a freight guy or regional guy that has paid their dues. In fact we have a compliance problem with the e mil guys refusing to follow SOPs and an inate inability to fly as a crew. We have no such problems with the ex airline guys.

Your statement is overly simplistic and a slap in the face to every pilot that came up through the ranks without the military.

I fail to see how 1500 hours in a F15 is better experience than say 4000+ hours with 2000 hour of that being as a regional captain. I'm not saying you and your ilk are not as good as the experienced regional guy I am just trying to understand where your air of superiority comes from.

Last time I checked we were being asked to fly to DTW and land, not drop a strike package on it.

 

[relief tube]

On the day of my interview this summer, Delta hired two young Regional FOs who had never been a Captain, and had Zero PIC, while sending away several high time RJ captains and Military instructor pilots who had tons of experience. One of the two low time FOs was female, and both seemed like solid people.

My take on it is that hours and experience are not nearly as important as finding a wide variety of good people. Of course, it's easier for me to say that since I was hired! Had I not been, I'm sure I would see it as a flawed system.

You can sound all "HR" if you want, but we should all agree having a mainline F/O who's if coming from 121 has been in charge before is a lot safer than one who hasn't.

In a perfect world, people who pay their dues get what they deserve, but this isn't a fair, perfect world. People who don't deserve anything get handed gifts and shortcuts. There's probably a guy who retired in september of 2001 with pension, who had started at the mainlines at the tender age of 23.

 

[KarmaPolice]

You can sound all "HR" if you want, but we should all agree having a mainline F/O who's if coming from 121 has been in charge before is a lot safer than one who hasn't.

In a perfect world, people who pay their dues get what they deserve, but this isn't a fair, perfect world. People who don't deserve anything get handed gifts and shortcuts. There's probably a guy who retired in september of 2001 with pension, who had started at the mainlines at the tender age of 23.

I see what you're saying. It seems to me like a safer bet to go with people who have the most accident free experience under their belts. But why do you think they interview and hire guys and girls who have less than 2000 hours, no PIC, and in the case of the guy I know, only one rec letter from a very junior FO? He had no family connections, was not a minority, and was just a generally decent guy.

I don't think Delta HR cares how much dues we've paid, they sent away a military guy who had 20+ years of serving our country. As it should be, he was probably a jerk.

It would be interesting to sit in on their pre hiring meetings and hear how they construct their ideal candidate, and how they differentiate between thousands of applications.

 

[Snakum]

As a frequent Delta passenger, I'd rather be flown by a couple of guys that spent 1500 hrs flying old Barons at Ram Air then another 1000 in an old Falcon 20 out of YIP or Addison.

Of course ... I'd also prefer all your FAs were young, female, attractive, and pleasant and I don't think I'll get that either any time soon.

 

[Launchpad]

You should be a fly on the wall during said IOE...

Originally Posted by jonjuan
LOL- it's the blame game. If I'm not mistaken, everyone goes thru the same interview with CAs, technical, and computer test. I think most people would rather be flown by someone with 3,000 hours 121 glass over 4 years versus 1,500 f16 over 8 years, not that it really matters as they are hiring people to be fo's and not ca's.
Trg not to beat your wife over your entitlement.
In about 9 out of 10 cases, I'd rather be flown by the 1500 hr F16 guy.

Let's say both pilots in the above example have the same amount of natural flying ability. The training that the viper guy has been through has no equal in the civilian world. He may have some catching up to do with the glass guy in training, but will soon be outpacing him as soon as IOE. If the Viper guy can stay ahead of a single seat jet as a mission commander of a package (sts) on a red flag sortie or in actual combat, he can stay ahead of an Airbus 320 into DTW in poor wx.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Last time I checked we were being asked to fly to DTW and land, not drop a strike package on it.[/QUOTE]

That city needs a few strike packages!

 

[Launchpad]

yeah trust me, if we see bogies on the arrival, by all means... your aircraft..

 

[FR8mastr]

The only way to tell if there were any preferential hiring on a large scale would be to determine how many female pilots wanting to be airline pilots actually get it. Compare that number to the number of male pilots wanting to be airline pilots that get it. All things being equal the percentage should be about the same.
Good luck ever getting that data.

 

[CX880]

You never know what kind of magic happens during an interview, it's not necessarily about flight time.

I saw this Southwest pilot once came out of the gate to get some food. She was so strikingly gorgeous and she had this aura about her, probably a former fighter pilot or astronaut. I would not have been surprised if she was hired as soon as she walked in. And word is that SW is notoriously hard for females to get in, at least that's what I heard..