It’s probably cheaper to shift a small amount of flying to other bases than it is to pay everyone in the system.

Part of the reason for unfilled vacancies is our reserve rules, the other part is that you can really do pretty well in the right seat with a little seniority, especially for those with a military pension. Most of the people that I fly with have spent the last 20+ years on a long list of deployments, or they came from the regionals and have young kids. Time at home and the scheduling flexibility provided by seniority is just a bigger carrot than being a reserve captain. If super junior people want to upgrade, have at it, but we shouldn’t act surprised when others don’t see the incentive. At the end of the day, this is just a job.