I just wanted to add my 2 cents. I believe hiring like this will continue for the next few years. Not just at the regional level, but with the major carriers as well. Five years it is hard to say, but there are alot of positive factors for hiring to continue. First, the aviation industry is over 10% of the USA's GDP (this is a pretty large chunk). Secondly, the necessity of air travel is increasing every year. Thirdly, pilots are getting old and need to retire. Some will argue that the "Age 65" rule is going to slow hiring. I dont buy into that logic because the majority of pilots arent going to stay until 65 yrs old. Why? Well some are going to be medically DQ'd, and others are just going to want to retire. The small percentage that is going to stay are pilots that got "whacked" when some of the major carriers went bankrupt in regards to their retirement. At the regional level (barring any unforseen circumstances-terrrorists, etc), I think hiring will continue for a long time. At the major level, hiring might not be as strong, but it will still be relatively strong with retirements. As far as oil is concerned, if the price continues to rise we are going to be in much deeper trouble that just worrying about hiring trends. Finally, if hiring did come to a halt then you would just have to flight instruct to build your hours up to 1500 TT and 800+ multi. It would only take 2 years or so. If being a pilot is what you want to do as a career, then go for it. Air travel is always going to be a major aspect affecting our economy, which means their is always going to be a need for pilots. Barring any crazy circumstances, I would say the industry has a very positive outlook. The next step to make it even better for pilots is to make those greedy executives to stop giving themselves huge bonuses.