A lot of these airline vets came to VX in 2008-2009 when no one else was hiring. Aloha, ATA, and Midwest all went under around the same time and those guys needed a job. I doubt anyone one was super thrilled about working for a startup but it offered quick upgrades and a glimmer of hope. Most of them stayed because their QOL was good and they didn’t want to start over at the bottom yet again. Many of these people are in their 50s and just want to finish their careers without too many hurdles.