I have heard the AS rumor heating up again as well. It seems to be hot and heavy in the training centers. I had one INS tell me that is why they stopped hiring so quickly. Rumor of course.
I called a few buds at AS and it is the typical when not if when it comes to DAL.
On a side note HI has gotten very attractive to a lot of airlines not that it has one of the four HND slots.