I'm no expert, so take what I think with a grain of salt. Once we merge and have a SLI, all the furloughs will not be rushed back to fly. This merger is not about expansion, it's about consolidaiton. I expect many UAL and CAL aircraft parked after the merger, but not all at once, of course. I expect more pilots on the street after the merger than the total from both airlines before the merger. CAL is recalling some because they never needed to furlough in the first place. That, and new aircraft deliveries.

Hopefully, the retirements in 2013+ will help keep us junior guys flying. If we give up scope, expect thousands of "conited" pilots on the street applying for new hire jobs at the regionals.