Originally Posted by
Scoop
Yes 1000 is a very good year, but if you go back to pre-merger 1000 Pilots at DAL and NW combined was not a big deal. I have no idea what the pre-merger high of both combined airlines was but we had a few +1000 years at Delta alone. For reference we peaked at something like 10,100 total Pilots or so at Delta and I believe NW hit around 7000. We were however considerably smaller at the merger.
Scoop
The highest was 1997 with 1,360 hired, Delta and Northwest, combined.
The average, 1990 thru 2000, was 612 hired per year.
Delta alone peak was 1,027 in 1997. The next highest was 812 in 2000.