I'm not so sure. When I was a flight instructor Delta flew into WMU to give out minority scholarships. It was a full ride paid for by Delta. The ones that received the scholarships were well deserving and very bright. However, the instructors that trained them couldn't even get an interview with any Delta Connection carrier.
As soon as these minorities finished (with only a couple hundred hours) they were given interviews (mostly Comair and ASA). I have also heard several of these pilots are now at Delta with zero PIC. I wish I knew some names to check the seniority list.
Anyways, I think diversity is great but not at the cost of other more qualified applicants.
This is a DAL program and DAL hires our pilots. Until then they can do what they want.
This notion that these applicants arrive at DAL with barely 1500 hrs is hot air. They go to ASA with low time, build time there for two to three years, get a 73N type to prove that they have what it takes to make it though DAL training, then get an interview. No more no less. They have to pass that too, just like you and I did.
They are given an opportunity, they are not granted a job. There is a huge difference. I beleive that a few did not pass the interview. There are plenty of pilots here with no pic time, and some are white Anglo males. If you are going to fire away at someone getting on with no PIC time make sure you understand that it goes across the spectrum or race, creed, color and religion.
DAL looks at each applicant's situation at their regional airline. If you had no PIC time and were at ASA in 1999 it raises a red flag. Why? because you could upgrade and did not. Not the case today. If you were at AMR Eagle same deal applies. They are smart ppl and do not have a blanket policy for selecting candidates to interview. Everyone exceeds DAL min hiring standards.
I did not have a 73N type when I interviewed, so I was technically less qualified than they were.
Like I said, there are going to be people with less time that get hired long before the dust is blown off some applications. Why? Connections and simply being in the right place at the right time. Best thing to do is, go make your application stand out, and quit worrying about what they others are doing. You can not change what DAL is going to do.
