03/05/2026
As we near a year since the rollout of our new application system, common errors in the application process have begun to emerge. To help support all of you as candidates, and help you present your qualifications in a way that will make you most likely to succeed as candidates to become Delta pilots, we will post some updates that we hope will help you navigate this new process. Today’s update will focus on common issues we’ve seen regarding application updates.
Update Your Application:
Our application system is designed to let your application evolve along with your experience and accomplishments. As such, we ask that you update it regularly, so that we can be sure we are considering you based on an up to date picture of your qualifications. We recommend updating it at least every 60 days to err on the side of caution, as we will not consider applications that have not been updated in the last 90 days. When you do make updates, be sure to go through the entire application to make sure all data is current, as there is more to it than simply updating your flight time totals. We have seen a trend of candidates updating their flight time in an aircraft, but forgetting to update the last date they flew that aircraft. Failure to updates to time sensitive documents like FAA Medical Certificates and Passports can make candidates appear to no longer be qualified applicants even if their flight time is regularly kept up to date.
As our application review team evaluates your application, any information that is missing or out of date will result in you receiving an email directing you to correct the discrepancy. If you have not fixed the issue with your application within 7 days of that email being sent, our review team will be forced to move on, and your application won’t be eligible for consideration for at least 90 days. Please make sure to keep an eye on your email, and check to make sure it does not block or send emails to the junk folder from [email protected].
Date of Availability:
If you have a specific future date that you will be able to commit to Delta training, including planned military separation and retirement dates, please include it in your application. If you do not have a specific time frame and will just need to turn in notice to your current employer, selecting the option for “2 weeks notice" will generally suffice. If you did list a specific date that you would be available, please keep that up to date as it changes over time, just like everything else on your application. We have a number of applications on file with availability dates listed back in 2025, and we have no way to know how soon those candidates might really be available if they were interviewed today.
Checkride Failures:
When listing failures of checkrides and other checking events, please include the date, the type of checkride, and a brief explanation.
Employment/Education Gaps
Giving us a full understanding of your work excperience, training, and education is critical to being considered for a position as a Delta pilot. Following your high school graduation date your employment history should contain a listing for every job that you’ve had, even minor ones that were only second jobs or where you worked part time during school. The education section, similarly, should contain entires for every time you were enrolled in a college or professional development program, and the flight training should contain the same level of detail for all flight training programs. If there is any period of more than 30 days that is not accounted for by an entry in one or more of those sections, it must be listed as a gap in employment. The application contains a timeline tool to help you in case there are unexplained gaps. When the application was rolled out we discovered it had an error that caused it to flag gaps in timelines that were, in fact, accounted for, but that bug has been fixed and we ask you to use that tool to help make sure your application is complete and correct before submitting it.
If you were in the military, we want you to list each of your assignments separately starting with Basic Training or a Commissioning program.
In the Employment History section, there is a column labeled "Aircraft Flown". If your employment involved pilot experience, please tell us what aircraft you flew at that school, company or branch of military service.
Aircraft and Flight Summary:
To ensure your PIC time is calculated correctly, include all Instructor Time (Dual Given) in the PIC block as well for each aircraft you've instructed in. This is not how some other application systems work, but it is how we ask you to list this time in ours.
If you are listing flight time in a turbine aircraft, fill out the PIC and SIC blocks as well as the Turbine PIC and Turbine SIC blocks. Finally, for each turbine aircraft, complete the Turbine MEL or Turbine SEL blocks as appropriate. We know some of these may seem redundant, but failure to fill out all the appropriate blocks may make it appear to our reviewers at first glance that you have less experience in turbine aircraft that you actually do, and could lead to them moving on to candidates whose applications show their turbine flight time correctly.
As we mentioned above, don't forget to update the last flown date for each aircraft, as well as your total time in the last 12 months.
As ever, never hesitate to reach out to us through our DMs here on Facebook, Instagram or [email protected] if you have any questions.
