Best guess as to why the retirements are being delayed, according to a friend of mine currently at DENTK, is that the 737 training is so woefully behind, it makes no sense to make it worse by retiring more 757s (with those pilots largely displacing to 737; both seats).

Further: since the company is consolidating all 76T and 756 training at DENTK, he said most of the IAH Instructors did not follow the 756 Sims to Denver. In other words, the 756 fleet is now short of instructors.

Council 12 mail tonight said the company is working on the 737 training plan for Summer 2015. It said, quote: "The company will need to train 120 pilots a month for summer 2015 737 flying."

It did not say how many months that would be, though. Three months? Continuous until next summer? Nine times 120 - All Pilots at the Company!!

Based on the above, it makes sense to me that they are keeping the current/qualified crews they have on the 757/767 fleets, so they can try and get their heads above water for the 737.

If this is true, it would be a rare case of the company actually doing something that made sense.

Maybe there is hope. Mark your calendars.