We are hiring all we can. The training department is maxed out, with at most 8 new hires per class, and roughly one class per month. I'm not in the training dept., and those numbers are just what I hear. The sim is the choke point. We should be hiring for the foreseeable future. I can't speak to the flexibility of the mins. We are still not hiring in the east, due to most of our current pilot base coming from the east. Internal recs are recommended, but definitly not required. Good luck!