Highney was referring to the TRAINING department.

And yes, I know what the next response is going to be: "Why does a shortage of trainers directly lead to cancelling of flights???"

OK, it doesn't, but stay with me. 9E has historically run pathetically lean on pilots. It's the only company I've ever seen where reserves are not really on "reserve" to handle replacements for last minute sick call-ins, pilots timing out, etc. Instead, crew scheduling regularly incorporates them into their crew planning in advance of any real-time operational needs, leaving very few reservists to pick up the real crunch when it hits.

On top of that, the company, like clockwork, runs short of pilots twice a year -- during the summer peak season, and at the end of the year when *surprise surprise* pilots start timing out for the year in droves, sometimes as early as October!

So.....losing half the training department takes a chronically bad situation and just makes it that much worse.