Originally Posted by
Bahamasflyer
Really good question and I too am curious, as I was an outsider as well during that timeframe.
Hiring at my regional during the 2003-2007 time frame could only be described as "anemic". We furloughed about 40 or 50 people during 2002, but they were recalled almost immediately. I think the longest anyone was out was around 5 months.
During the mid-2000's, we had around 650 people on our seniority list. Between 2003 and 2007 we hired about 40 pilots a year. This was mostly to replace people who quit, took other jobs, lost their medical permanently, or retired. If I recall correctly, we had a dozen or so people bail for Compass or Skywest during this time period. A few pilots quit for good and went on to non-aviation jobs.
In short, we were hiring in 2003-2007, but it was just a trickle. The last "big" hiring year was 2000. We wouldn't have another big hiring year until around 2012. By big, I mean "around a hundred people".