Originally Posted by acl65pilot

One thing that I think all of us need to be cognizant of too is: DAL has never hired more than about six years in a row since deregulation. Late 1985-1991, Late 1996-early 2001, 2007-2008, 2010. We are looking at 10-15 years of continued hiring hiring, and this time may be different based on where that six year point from today lies in relation to the retirements, but the historical reality is 2020 the doors will close, or the hiring will slow down significantly. Where will you be on the seniority list at that time? What will six years of possible reduced or no hiring due to your career expectations?

Each of these hiring waves was stopped by world events. 1991/1992 was the First Gulf War, 2001 was 9/11. 2008 was the start of the great recession and 2010 was just need based hiring due to too many on long term leaves.

The point is, it looks good for a decade plus from the perspective of today, but world events can change that vantage point in a instant. We are going to be retiring 700+ about the time the six year window arrives so we may break the historical trend due to our age inertia, but that does not mean that the world economy will be doing well at that time. It also does not mean that we will be replacing pilots on a 1:1 basis. Its important to strategically plan, strategically implement, and influence a timeline of your choosing.