Personal opinion rant: I don't think Ric reiterated the 2.5/6 to distract from the news schedules aren't improving. They couldn't care less about current employee morale, as evidenced by the reserve debacle that is ongoing and totally preventable. I'm sure this email was intended to boost recruiting, as 350 new hires is a lofty target in this environment.

I'm glad they keep pushing 2.5/6, personally. After hearing years and years of bad news about shrinking and losing flying, this type of optimism, even from management, is better than the alternative of losing more airplanes. It was about this time last year that more 145 transfers were announced. Now, the 175 is arriving, the CRJ's will hang around, and the 145's are supposedly coming back. If you step back and realizes who is doing the talking, and understand that those projections should be taken with a grain of salt, there's no harm in looking at the bright side.

With regards to the projections, I think the 2.5 claim is off the mark. The six year flow seems very reasonable at this point. Six years is an eternity, and a lot could change, good or bad, in that time frame. The next 2.5 years could be really good here, but good enough to move that many pilots up the list? I doubt it. I think a 4 year upgrade is a solid conservative estimate.

Either way, for me personally, I'm going to keep the flow in my back pocket and apply off the street and see where I end up. There's going to be an unprecedented amount of retirements/hiring over the next decade. I'd say no matter where you are sitting, it's going to be a good ride.


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