By 2028, the US military will have retired or separated an additional 25,000 military pilots aged from 33 to 48. The airlines love these guys for a variety of reasons including relatively low medical costs since many have Tricare, a known long history where it would have been particularly difficult to conceal problems from their employer, and the simple fact that the average cost per flying year for someone you hire at age 40 is considerably less than that to hire a 25 rear old who would then wind up spending 28 years at the pay of a senior captain.

Don’t get me wrong, the retirement wave means better times are coming, but at the major level it’s still a buyers market, and those buyers are going to buy the cheapest pilots that can do the job.