There just aren’t enough pilots. The big 3 need about 20,000 pilots in the next 7 years. United and Delta are hiring 23-30 year olds left and right, all being thrown in the right seat of widebodies and any other airplane they want. The great pilot shortage we’ve been talking about for the past 15 years to arrive is finally in full force.

There’s a difference between “the company is lying about numbers” vs there just isn’t enough pilots to hire to support the fleet. I wouldn’t be surprised to see all airlines slow growth projections because of it. Over at United, if you get hired on as a 44 year old, you would retire at about number 7000 on the list. Crazy times.