It is my belief based on those very retirement numbers that 789 mandatory retirements will yield 1000 or more new hires in that 10 year span. Call me a glass half full guy, but that is my best educated guess. I actually believe we will have a much larger spike in retirements after the next contract is signed and in 2018 when the airline turns 30 and all the '88ers reach the max pension contribution amount. I hope the contract does away with early retirement penalties because there are actually pilots who will reach 30 years but not meet the age 60 requirement.

Perhaps we will see some growth aircraft, but until that time I am only going by pure retirement numbers, and for a new hire, it doesn't seem all that bad. YMMV.