The crickets are the thing. They make you feel like nothing is happening. But they don't mean anything. I had my app in for something like 4 years. I had literally given up. The call came out of the blue. You don't know where you are in the stack. You never know if you're the next one on the list to call or 5000 numbers down. So assume the next update will put you over the top. I think 5000 TPIC counts for more than 1000 PIC. Maybe not. Does 5000 TPIC count more than a 4 year degree AND 500 PIC? I don't know if it does. We know everything on the app counts for something, but nobody really knows the value of anything in relation to other items on the app.

We know the profile of those selected tends to run greater than 5000TT, greater than 1000PIC; 121 PIC, or mil background; BA or better, some kind of additional duty - union or management, and more than one internal LOR.