In a long period of boredom I must confess, I read this entire thread. And in all that time, I was surprised no one mentioned the huge amount of hiring that ExpressJet has been doing over the last few months. Hear me out: In Dec/Jan they were hiring instructors as fast as they could with plans to double their current capacity at the training center. There were stated plans to have 700 new hires online this year as well as a large number of upgrades.

Explanations I have heard:
-We were short staffed last summer. Sure, maybe by 100-200, but not to the tune of 700 pilots!

-Attrition is expected to increase this year. Alright. I know everyone is expecting some increase in attrition this year but 700 pilots = 58/month; not likely.

-We are bringing back the 135s! Yeah...7 of 'em...to cover aircraft that are offline for heavy maintenance. Not what I'd call net growth and hardly justifies an increase in hiring like this. Hell, you couldn't even fit 700 pilots in 7 E135s!

-We are trying to scoop up as many qualified pilots as we can before the 1500-hour/ATP rule takes effect and screw the other regionals. I don't think any airline right now can justify the cost of carrying an unnecessary 700 pilots just in anticipation of a rule change. And since when are airline managements that forward thinking?

In my mind, something just doesn't add up. Part of me thinks I must be the crazy one since I'm the only one bringing this up, but who knows? All this plus the rumors of an "undisclosed United Express carrier" taking over the Q operation is enough to make me wonder. I mean...30 Q400s (600 pilots) plus what we were short staffed last year (100-200 pilots) equals about 700 pilots... What am I missing guys?

* This all assumes that the numbers coming from crew planning and the training center are accurate and that UniCal wants to keep the Q400s in the Express fleet. If not, well then, back to square one!