I’ll Be Applying Next Year

After researching for the first half of this year, I’ve decided to apply to Delta next year after making some lifestyle changes. I’m in my 30s with over a decade of relevant work experience and I feel confident in my ability to do my best with enough preparation. I want to allow myself time to arrange my transition from my current career and save enough to be comfortable taking the risk that putting myself out there for this position will be.

I wanted to share with you all my reasons why, just in case anyone else is like me and silently studying and researching this possibility:

1. The retirement options. As someone who has been in hospitality, specifically management in the food and beverage industry, I don’t have any retirement options and my body has a shelf life. Delta has one of the highest ranked retirement packages out of the Big Corporations, and as someone with no college degree my options are limited.

2. The pay. Everyone says to be careful, be aware, the pay is extremely low — especially starting out. I have never made more than $40k a year, I have lived below the poverty line for most of my life, and currently I only make about $35k a year working an absurd amount of hours — honestly a comparable schedule to what reserve FAs do. I’ll be lucky to make $50k max doing what I do, whereas top-out pay for FAs is above the triple digits.

3. Delta’s reserve system. Not having to wait to hold a line is huge. I want to be able to have some control over my schedule, or at least plan for the upcoming month.

4. Union status. While Delta is not currently unionized, I did enough research to come to my own conclusion: I truly believe they will soon. Personally, I’d love to be a part of that movement and be able to be a part of a change. Delta is already highly competitive, and I think starting there now will only set me up even better for when conditions inevitably improve. And even if they never do — I can live with how they are now.

5. I want to see the world, and I want to meet more people from more places. I have never been able to leave America, and I rarely have the chance to leave my bubble inside of America. I want to experience other cultures and climates and food and landscapes.

6. I am too hospitality driven to find fulfillment in other lines of work. It’s annoying that I can’t just work a desk job and grind through a corporate career, but I need to actually make a difference to feel like I’m making a difference, even if it’s in a small way.

So yeah, these are my big reasons among the many, many little. What are your reasons for pursuing this career?