I would apply soon but not necessarily yet. I was furloughed TWA/AA and if it weren't for the 1000 PIC I wouldn't be here at UPS today. Think of the state of the industry. Any one of the pax outfits could merge tomorrow. If your outfit is the weaker airline the apes at the stronger airline start jumping up and down and will put you at the bottom of the list. I know a lot of pilots that I've worked with that are now stuck at schmuck outfits or that are waiting to be recalled at the all-time schmuck AAirline because they didn't get 1000 pic.

Also, think about being a check-airman. The HR people at UPS dig that (SWA too).