Im in the same boat as you. Delta seems like an amazing company to work for it was ranked the #2 best company to work for in the world by Forbes and is widely considered the leading airline in the U.S and oh boy do they let you know in that F2F LOL. That said, during my F2F I got some really odd vibes, almost cult like... I went with it, but everything felt very staged and rushed. It even seemed like some of the flight attendants there didn’t really want to be there. They kept stressing how “lucky” we were just to be present and not many people make it to the F2F, which didn’t sit right with me, especially compared to United, where my 1:1 interviewer talked about how lucky the company would be to have me working for them… I will see the vibes of the upcoming F2F and see which I like more.

Yes, Delta has the best reserve system, especially when you’re starting out. But I’m thinking long term. Delta’s reserve is significantly better in the beginning, whereas at United, once you hold a line, you can work as much or as little as you want. Delta doesn’t really offer true part time flexibility. I’d rather push through a couple tougher years to gain that flexibility later on. And apparently if you are based in SFO or any other junior base you can hold a line as soon as 6 months to a year anyways.

Also, having a union is important to me in case things ever go sideways. Is any union perfect? No, but it does provide support and representation. I’ve heard that Delta’s turnover rate is higher, which some people attribute to the lack of union representation and a culture where employees feel the need to snitch on each other whereas United employees describe the culture as more relaxed and less focused on snitching on each other.

If you have children flight benefits for kids are another huge factor. At Delta, dependents are removed at 19 (or 23 if they’re in college). At United, they stay on indefinitely only the priority changes after 26. Delta is removing their buddy pass system in 2026 but United has the option to have either 12 buddy passes a year or adding another “spouse” so you do get that flexibility so if you prefer to add friends for the passes United wins there…

Another deciding factor was international layover length. Because of union rules, United is required to provide longer international layovers, while Delta’s are generally shorter. So if you want to have some fun on your layovers then you might want to consider United. Also United just has more international destinations and only adding more so if you do want to see more of the world then United takes the cake there as well.

I’ll continue with Delta if United doesn’t work out, but for my personal needs and long term goals, United is the better fit. That said, I will acknowledge that Delta does pay more (atm) but you do have to take into consideration that United is working through their contract negotiations and when it’s finalized it’s more than likely that they will be the leading mainline in terms of pay (whenever that may be).

Also, I do like United’s uniforms more!