The above post is what I have been told to. Of course this can all change, but as of now, it will still be somewhere above 500 pilots for the year. Probably more than that.
I think that this is a temporary thing for DAL. It is not seen as permanent. We aim to go 50/50 on international and domestic. That means a lot more blue suits will come through the door. That is todays five year plan, not tomorrows. Nothing is a guarantee, but it is a lot better than the press is making this out to be. It is a necessary cut so that we do not loose billions like we did after the summer of 01. They are realizing the problem at least six months before they did last time. Dal still states that we may make money this year(We will see about that)
I truly cannot see DAL getting rid of 757's and 7ER as some posts have said. Maybe off of the domestic market, but I cannot see selling them. Park yes, but those are the airframes that we have built this business plan on.
Of further note, we are buying all of our recurrent sim time from UAL in DEN. It sucks, but with all of the new hires going to the ER there is not time in ATL. A two to three month hiatus in hiring will allow them to get rid of that bulge. It costs a lot to do training out of our complex. This also reduces costs.
If anything changes, I am sure that we will know, but for now, not much except there may not be 800 new hires this year.
Lets hope that they do not readjust this number again.