I haven't the slightest doubt you're correct about the quality and energy of the JetBlue pilots. We at AA are an aging bunch. I'm 50, been working at AA for 21 years, and in theory I could be an ultra-junior reserve narrowbody Captain at DFW which is my home - damned if I'll commute - and guys in my seniority range, 4,000's, are ready to fight. We've watched everything vanish. The upgrade, the lifestyle quality, the pay (obviously), every expectation in our careers seemingly vanished into magic PUP bucks into the pockets of management.

I'll put it this way - there are a lot of guys in their 50's with little to lose. Can't really start over anywhere else, and if it gets much worse, they'll simply pull the plug. Progression at AA, which has been SO stagnant, is ready to accelerate. Especially as the age 60 guys turn 65. Our last seniority shuffle moved me nearly 500 numbers in one year, the largest movement I've seen since my DOH.

I guess what I'm trying badly to say is there is a generational gap at AA. We are shockingly old as a group, and if AA remains reasonably intact, there will come a time in the next ten years when an enormous number of pilots are going to reach retirement age, and the ability of a guy who is early 30's to advance rapidly is there. Again, assuming AA as a fleet and operating entity survives in some fashion.