Here's the simple math:

Flying 5 more hours, on average, ie. 80 instead of 75, adds 6.66% productivity, which is how the company wants it. To US, that means 5hrs. mo'money, but it also means they need 6.66% less pilots to accomplish the same amount of flying. On a 10,000 pilot list, that equates to 666.66 fewer pilots needed to do the same amount of flying.

Now, ramp that up to 85, from our old baseline of 75, that's 13.33% or 1,333 less pilots needed. Want to fly 90 a month? If everone does, that means 2,000 less pilots required, vs. a 75 hr. cap. The company will love you! DALPA will love you (the guys who's pay is based on the average pilot's hours), but the bottom 2,000 may not think it's so wonderful.

Now you see why we've had stagnation and a shrinking seniority list, vs. hiring.

Here's a little something else that's hurting our needed numbers. Why do you think the company wanted to combine the 767Er and 767 Domestic? Because now they won't need as many reserves to cover both categories, they can use all 767 Reserves for both Domestic and Int. flying, which requires less reserves overall.

The only bright spot for us is, Richard seems content to keep bringing in new fleet types, which requires more guys off the line, going to training, and will require more reserves spread into yet another aircraft category. It may replace the overages caused by combining the 767ER+Dom, but at a much reduced pay rate (717 pay vs. 767 pay) and after all the DC9's are parked, it will wash out to less pilots needed overall.