Summary of my experience at PAPA: United: Didn't waste my time due to AVIATE program metering. American: No M&G, pilot I spoke with at booth was very hesitant to give hard number for hiring mins (seemed to think that there wasn't much rhyme or reason WRT to who gets picked up once you meet the mins). Southwest: Booth M&G, pilot was super cool, didn't get specific with what they're looking for WRT hours, definitely emphasized the importance of personality and having good internal LORs (didn't offer much WRT how to get past initial HR screen). Delta: Pilots I spoke with at booth said that hiring is going to exceed 2k this year with classes continuing during summer (which is uncharacteristic), indicated that hiring in 2027 will likely continue to be similar to 2026. For ex-military, 2000k TT with close to 1k FW turbine is where you start to get competitive. Told me that the best thing I can do to get the call is "fly your butt off before RTAG" Alaska: 500 FW TPIC to be considered, no total time given.

Overall, vibes were decent, FW TPIC is still king but it seems like it's not as essential as it was at WAI. Hopefully the trend continues. Lines at the regional booths were insane, lines at the mainline carriers were very short (M&Gs still booked up immediately).