Retaining people costs more than training new people. The goal of the airline is not to have as many people who are 20 year captains as they can. The goal is to probably have a small but reasonable amount of longevity with a majority of the group sitting at less than 10 year and most of those less than 5. That’s cheaper labor for them. Why pay someone $250/hr when they can save almost $40/hr paying someone with less years and probably just as qualified. Being a budget airline means looking at unique ways to cut costs and that’s one way.