Delta Air Lines software engineer candidates report a three-stage sequence spanning screening, role-focused technical and résumé discussion, then a virtual US-team interview with STAR questions and a harder coding prompt.
$118K
Avg. Base Comp
$143K
Avg. Total Comp
3 rounds
Typical Rounds
3-6 weeks
Process Length
One Delta Air Lines Software Engineer candidate reported a three-stage interview sequence: a screening conversation, a face-to-face round, and a virtual interview with a US team. Prepare to connect your résumé directly to the role’s technology, rather than treating the process as coding practice alone. The candidate said the face-to-face conversation focused on role-specific technology and prior experience.
The virtual stage combined behavioral and technical evaluation: one interviewer used STAR-style situational questions, while another covered the tech stack and an aptitude coding question that the candidate found tougher. A separate software-engineering report describes an online screen with Java, Spring Boot, Angular, and Unix, then array-and-string coding alongside Java, Spring, SQL, cloud, and project discussion. Another developer report similarly emphasizes practical Linux, AWS, API, deployment-tooling, and conflict-management conversations.
For preparation, choose concrete examples that explain your contribution, the technical choices you made, and the outcome. Rehearse situational answers in STAR format, be able to discuss the technologies actually listed on your résumé, and practice writing or explaining code under interview conditions. The exact team stack and assessment mix may vary, but the available reports point to a blend of practical experience, behavioral communication, and coding.
Synthesized from 3 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the Delta Air Lines process.
I got a call for the interview and went through an assessment round — that was behavioral plus technical screening combined. They asked about my resume and previous work, then gave me a Leetcode-style DSA question about implementing an LRU cache and a SQL query problem. I had to write the query to match a given output. After I cleared that, they had me do a technical round covering more DSA and SQL. Then they called me in for an onsite at their Bengaluru office. The interview went well, and they gave positive feedback when I left. I thought things were moving forward. But then nothing. Waited two weeks with no word. So I called back to check on the status and the HR person immediately disconnected. Then I got a rejection email at the same time. It was frustrating because I'd passed multiple rounds and gotten positive signals, then suddenly got rejected with no explanation or timeline. The technical content itself — DSA basics and SQL queries — wasn't too hard if you're solid on fundamentals, but be prepared for the possibility that communication might be unclear even when things seem to be progressing.
Prep tip from this candidate
Focus on LRU cache and SQL query writing, especially matching queries to given outputs. Be proactive about follow-up timelines — this process showed communication delays even after positive signals.
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Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Delta Air Lines
Return the top 5 most frequent flight routes for each origin, ordered by frequency descending and average duration ascending
| Question | |
|---|---|
| Top 3 Users | |
| Manager Team Sizes | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| 85% vs 82% | |
| KNN From Scratch | |
| A Simpler KNN From Scratch | |
| Cloud-Agnostic Deployments | |
| International e-Commerce Warehouse | |
| Distributed Authentication Model | |
| Text Editor With OOP | |
| Client Solution Pushback | |
| Stakeholder Communication | |
| Your Strengths and Weaknesses | |
| Game Feature Home | |
| Meta in an Emerging Market | |
| 2nd Highest Salary | |
| Closest SAT Scores | |
| Employee Salaries | |
| Subscription Overlap | |
| Empty Neighborhoods | |
| Top Three Salaries | |
| Monthly Customer Report | |
| Merge Sorted Lists | |
| String Shift | |
| Rolling Bank Transactions | |
| Customer Orders | |
| Comments Histogram | |
| Top 5 Turnover Risk | |
| Like Tracker |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
A Software Engineer candidate reports beginning with a screening round. Other Delta engineering reports also describe recruiter or online screening steps, so candidates may be asked to introduce their background and relevant experience before later interviews.
One candidate reports a face-to-face second round focused on role-specific technology and their résumé. A separate engineering report included Java, Spring Boot, Angular, and Unix in an online screen, suggesting that clear explanations of hands-on stack experience may matter.
A candidate reports a virtual third round with a US team: one interviewer asked STAR-style questions and another covered the tech stack plus a tougher aptitude coding question. Situational questions were specifically reported.
