DAYTONA BEACH — Imagine having not finished college and being offered a job that could pay more than $200,000 a year.

A new Delta Air Lines program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University does just that.

Delta’s Propel Pilot Career Path Program, allows students at ERAU and other schools to fast track their careers as commercial pilots at a major airline.

While it typically takes flight school graduates about five years to break into a coveted major airline, Delta’s program shortens that timeframe to less than four years.

“During the next decade, Delta expects to hire more than 8,000 pilots to staff the thousands of daily flights it operates around the world as current pilots approach mandatory retirement age,” Delta Air Lines flight operations pilot outreach manager Brent Knoblauch said Tuesday. “Delta is launching the Delta Propel Pilot Career Path Program to identify, select and develop the next generation of pilots.”

The program bodes well for the world’s looming pilot shortage, where between now and 2037, airlines will need to replace 635,000 commercial pilots worldwide, according to a 2018 Boeing report.

In the U.S., low numbers of new pilots have collided with the FAA’s mandatory pilot retirement policy, which expels pilots out of the skies when they turn 65. And as a large generation of baby boomers approach 65, the attrition will worsen, leaving the nation’s airlines to hire 127,000 pilots, the report says.

Part of the problem is the length of time it takes to become a pilot.

The FAA requires flight school graduates to log 1,500-hours of flight time, or 1,000 hours for ERAU students, before they can join the ranks as an official commercial pilot, and many graduates work as flight instructors for about a year before they can move on to a regional commercial airline. From there, pilots fly smaller jets at regional carriers for a few years before trying to break into a major airline like Delta that will offer larger jets — and much large paychecks, said Ken Byrnes, chair of ERAU’s Flight Department.

Delta’s program changes that, too, offering pilots three direct paths to get to a major carrier. Pilots can fly in the Air National Guard or Reserve, fly for a Delta Connection carrier, or work in a job-share opportunity where students fly Delta’s private jets while serving as flight instructors at ERAU or other partner schools, Knoblauch said.

“Successful pilots will progress through these career routes in 42 months or less, offering students the most accelerated and defined timeline to a mainline carrier,” Knoblauch said.

While other airlines have similar programs at ERAU, Delta’s is unique in that it offers a shorter timeline to go from a smaller regional carrier to a major airline, Byrnes said.

“To get through four years at the university and then work your way to major airline without any kind of pathway or guarantee is a risk, and having these types of agreements takes that risk off the students and it certainly increases their motivation while they’re in school,” Byrnes said.

The program also provides students with mentors, where a trained Delta pilot will regularly discuss, “their progress, questions about the career, and discuss professional development topics including leadership and crew resource management,” Knoblauch said.

In addition, at least once a semester, Delta pilots will host on-campus “Delta Days” which include presentations on professional piloting careers and lifestyle and interactive academic sessions to build students’ aviation knowledge, Knoblauch said.

• • Auburn University

• • Middle Georgia State University

• • Middle Tennessee State University

• • Minnesota State University, Mankato

• • The University of North Dakota

• • Western Michigan University

Delta plans to add additional university partners in the future, a press release says.

Delta will begin accepting applications in August. Successful candidates must meet specific eligibility criteria, including being a junior, senior, or a recently graduated Certificated Flight Instructor, the press release says.

Because it offers a direct line to a major airline, Byrnes said he thought the program would be among the most popular of its kind at ERAU.

“Delta’s one of the biggest names, if not the biggest name there is as far as destination careers for our students and where they aspire to go,” Byrnes said. “To give them (students) a clear career path to get to where they want to be is tremendous.”