The Reddit post in question is a brief but telling snapshot of the informal knowledge-sharing that underpins much of the airline hiring pipeline today: a pilot preparing for a Delta "Meet & Greet" (M&G) asking peers on r/flying what to expect and how to prepare. While the original post itself contains minimal detail, the topic it raises is significant within the current major-airline hiring environment, where the M&G has become a standard, and often decisive, step in the selection process at legacy carriers like Delta, United, and American.
For those unfamiliar, the Meet & Greet is distinct from a formal technical interview. It is generally structured as a conversational, low-pressure session where a panel of current line pilots and sometimes HR representatives assess a candidate's demeanor, communication style, and "fit" with the airline's culture rather than probing deep technical or procedural knowledge. Candidates who reach this stage have typically already cleared HR screening, background and records checks, and in many cases a simulator or technical evaluation, meaning the M&G often functions as a final gate focused on interpersonal judgment: Would this person be someone you'd want in the flight deck on a four-day trip? Common threads from pilots who have been through Delta's process include questions about command decisions, CRM scenarios, why the candidate wants to fly for that specific airline, and general biographical/motivational questions rather than rapid-fire systems or regulatory quizzes.
This matters to working pilots and aspiring airline applicants because the hiring landscape has shifted substantially over the past two years. After the post-pandemic hiring boom of 2022-2023, major carriers including Delta slowed hiring in 2024 and 2025 amid Boeing and Airbus delivery delays, pilot supply catching up to demand, and broader economic uncertainty. That slowdown has made each hiring cycle more competitive and each interview stage more consequential, increasing the value pilots place on peer intelligence about what recruiters and check airmen are actually looking for. Forums like r/flying, along with dedicated interview-prep services (Emerald Coast Aviation Consulting, Cage Marshall, FAPA, etc.), have become de facto clearinghouses for this kind of tribal knowledge, especially since airlines themselves are often vague about M&G format and expectations in official communications.
More broadly, this reflects a persistent reality in airline pilot hiring: technical competency, while necessary, is treated as a baseline, and softer qualities like judgment, communication, and cultural alignment increasingly differentiate finalists in a pool of similarly qualified applicants. For furloughed or career-transitioning pilots, regional captains applying to majors, or military aviators making the jump to the airlines, understanding this distinction is increasingly critical to interview preparation. It also underscores a broader industry trend: as major carriers refine and tighten their selection processes during periods of slower growth, the human, conversational elements of hiring are gaining prominence relative to pure stick-and-rudder or systems knowledge, a dynamic that pilots at every career stage should factor into how they prepare for interviews across the industry, not just at Delta.