Okay, let's think about how poor their planning was:

15 years with the company, so hired in 1997 near ATP mins (because that we needed back then). He probably figured a couple years to upgrade and a couple more until getting on at AA (daddy was on the hiring committee). Hmmm, four years would be right at 2001. What happened that year? Okay, so a couple years later, the mainlines start hiring again, but now there are about three times as many applicants because even the most junior captains have years of PIC. Applications go out, then he finally gets an interview date until somebody decided to let everybody work five more years. Then the economy tanks. Well, maybe in a few more years when AA has recalled its last 1600, this guy will be around 50 years old and can look forward to sitting reserve again and not get back to the same pay for half a dozen more years. And all because he made some bad choices.