Razor Congrats!
I posted this earlier regarding reason for adjusted 2008 hiring.
"it would be arguable that in light of the ever expanding MD-11 training requirement and the drawdown of the classic Whale, they want to effectively reconstitute classic Whale drivers into MadDog 11 drivers. Based on the MD-11 training capabilities, it is logical the company cannot put any more crews into the training pipe. DOES NOT MEAN they are properly staffed, etc. Just a real limitation on a drawdown and expansion of different fleets.
They will still be short on some fleets and heavy on others and inevitably will always be a little out of sync. It is not all conspiracy, it never is perfect since they are constantly adjusting for the market (switching aircraft) on a timeline that is much shorter than the timeline it takes to train a crewmember for a new seat. Any smart business would resort to switching crews only as a last resort once proven cannot readily make consistent service with present staffing. My assessment, is they need to hire new crews, but the immediate requirement is get the 74's out and ramp up the new 74's and MD's.
For UPS poolies and applicants, I'd not be surprised to see spot outta the blue new hire classes by mid 2008. Opportunities emerge once they get this big fleet change rolling, they will start hiring when they can plug them in. Big unknowns remain: (1)Age 65 and (2) how many of our esteemed age 60+ folks hang around (3) DC-8 phase out( which is anyones guess)"

We are just finishing training 727 crews who haven't had work in months. totally inefficient and getting paid alot to sit home, we also had new hires this year who had 2-6 week vacations after starting waiting for sim slots. Why hire new crew members when the training capacity is maxed out? That is why they hit the brakes. They need the crews, just need to digest the elephant the snake already ate..