40 per month is the announced number. No talk of stopping(but it changes fast when it does happen....)

Furloughs? Could happen at any time. The question is will it? Based on the current landscape it would appear to be less likely. $.02 worth of info there. Once the significant retirements start the risk of furloughs rapidly approaches zero.

Next question - when do the 'significant retirements' start? Pick an annual number to qualify as 'significant'. If I had to pick a year I'd say 2014. So do you wait for the 'protection' of furlough risk being very low by waiting until 2014 or do you jump onto the list ASAP to get a better seniority number? (if you don't know the answer you must be new to the game...)

Good luck.