The 1700 number is not correct. The FAA has not even issued the Notice of proposed rule making but even if ALPA got every single thing they asked for in their proposal your only looking at one or two hundred jobs or so extra at Delta. Domestic pilots might end up working more days because of the longer layover and rest rules but in the end its not going to create that many jobs.

Work rule changes however in the 2012 contract could restore some of the several thousand jobs we lost to contractual changes. Some however may not be popular with pilots since they lower earnings potential and may not come to pass. Its short sided thinking but the way things are.