I totally hope for the big numbers and totally see Slow's point, however, I hope as ACL says the 600-1000 bodies isn't necessarily a sign of a jump in capacity but rather just meeting the needs of a pilot group that has 10,600-ish pilots bidding the lines and near 12,000 on the SL. Aviation Week has a good article in the magazine this week about capacity discipline, I for one, think we will retain our discipline given that this economy ain't boomin and if anything is headed down. Its a good article, also shows that outside of AMR's loss, the #1 airline in Q2 net and operating profits is DAL, #4 and #5 in operasting and net profit and behind USAir is, well, thats for another thread.

How are the retirement numbers going? I figure its a bit more complicated to forecast now than it was before when you knew X% make it to 60, X% make it to 58, etc. Now, you don't have those historical averages to base your hiring needs on.

And does capacity discipline mean chances for an Alaska merger increase? Its a good way to expand by 112 aircraft overnight and then synergize (i.e. delete overlaps) and make a profit naturally from the cost savings without ever having to take on the risk that comes from traditional expansion. Not to mention what if AMR starts to pursue them?