Originally Posted by ninerdriver

A pilot hired by AA OTS is probably 40 years old on average. A pilot flowing 8 years after getting hired as an Envoy cadet could be as young as 30.

For every extra year that AA can keep that 30 year old at Envoy, that's a year of top scale AA pay they don't have to pay that guy. A 30-year-old new hire will be a lot more expensive to AA than a 40-year-old new hire when all is said and done.