Envoy has a flowthrough, so not many lifers there. The only airlines that have the most lifers are Asa/ExpressJet, and Skywest. I'm at Asa, and we have probably 300-400 lifers. Our airline is so top-heavy, that we are going to lose the regional race. We won't attract new pilots, all we can do is shrink down to the lifers eventually, then they'll be pushed back to reserve and 20 year captains going back to FO. There is no quick upgrade here, nor a high first year pay, nor any flow-through, nor any signing bonus or retention bonus. The only way to get topped out lifers gone is some form of early retirement bonus...or a flow-through program.

Of course every airline has those who realistically can't get hired anywhere else because....they are weirdos.