If you are not up for a continual wild ride on a roller coaster you might be better suited for accounting ... Just don't cook any books.

Who will be the captains at these new wonder regionals?

Usually it’s FOs with 1000 121 time at stagnant regionals whose pilot groups refuse to take a pay cut. There’s little movement and no new flying at their current airline and they can be an immediate captain at the top of the seniority list at brand new cut rate regional X (but for less pay) or spend another 5 years as an FO at their current regional, then a captain on reserve forever. It’s just capitalism and allows for lower airfare for customers, but it means we don’t get paid much.

Not necessarily. It takes only an hour or so to lay someone off, maybe less, depending on the paperwork. It takes a lot longer to advertise an open position, interview potential candidates, then select and hire one. Several days in the case of unskilled labor with people who are unemployed and available immediately, and several months or more in the case of filling skilled labor roles. Things always unwind faster than they can be wound back up.

Unless you just bring back the people you laid off, that should be practical in the short-term.

That's a lot more common in the airline world than it is otherwise. And, as you've pointed out elsewhere, some firms have this odd policy of not bringing anyone back whom they have previously laid off.

But yeah, where doing so works definitely shortens the process.

Which is fantastic, for all of the now-unemployed people who still have jobs to go back to after this is over. Businesses will be shuttering left and right.

Some yes. With a little luck that will bottom out soon, as opposed to s sustained economic death spiral. We'll see.

I would like to see the stats on the unemployment figures right now, I’m guessing the majority of them are from industries like retail/restaurant that have been forced to close by the government. Now presuming we allow them to re-open, will the majority of these people get back to work right away? I think yes. The economy was going so strong prior to this, the businesses were not suffering before and didn’t have a need to lay anyone off. There are plenty of industries doing quite well, and actually expanding. This is not your typical recession scenario. Like some have said, people are ready to travel if given the chance. People will not stay prisoners in their homes forever, regardless of “suggested guidance.” From what I’ve seen it’s vastly different opinion depending on your geographic location. There is also a direct correlation on your outlook and how much news you’ve been watching. They preach nothing but doom and gloom, and if you take it all as fact, you’re likely depressed, angry, and fear the world is ending. If you turn it off, life still goes on and optimism and hope return. Best of luck to us all.

It's not pretty.