No one really knows what will happen with those 6 -8Fs. The company has said they want to just operate 8F's and maybe keep 1 or 2 400's around for charters. They currently have airplanes sitting on the ramp that they are not flying because of lack of flight crew but they really do not want to hire. They have the business but keep turning it down due to lack of crews. They will probably lose at least 6 pilots by the time the 6 new hires start in January and they won't be on the line until October. So schedules will not get any easier for a long time.

The reason they are hiring non-type rated pilots is they are looking for lower time pilots who will not be looking to leave so quickly. This way they can open up the pool to a broader group of pilots and put them on a lower payscale. No one use to leave NCA except when they retired, but that has all changed. Even Japanese pilots are leaving which is unheard of in Japan.

Everything is not all negative but things have changed so much. The people you fly with are great, the maintenance is excellent, you never have to worry about having enough fuel and training is fairly relaxed once you get on the line.