At the regional I came from our head of pilot recruiting said for 2-3 years before the shortage that the writing was on the wall and the company needed to be proactive or the company would be limited in their opportunities because of lack of willing candidates who apply.
I wonder if S has her finger on the pulse of this industry. If she does I bet she'd be screaming at management to get this TA right or her job is going to be very difficult very shortly. Right now the only real advantage NK has over the regionals is the pay rate and it's really only marginally better. (Worse if you count pay per seat) Anyone coming over is looking at a very long upgrade and even those of us hired within the last 18 months could be screwed if the pool of applicants dries up and we can't grow as expected.
We have to get this right or only the dregs of the regionals will apply.