The 787s will be around for the remainder of this decade unless they can get a buyer, which considering age, configuration, no crew rest, will be a very hard task. Don’t forget this was already attempted prior pandemic, nothing eventuated. They are not overly economical on the domestic triangle when compared to the A332. Sort of stuck with them for the moment, plenty of pent up demand in the coming years to push them to longer haul new routes.
Commands will be delayed across many places for the first half of this decade, Virgin also impacted on that front with some FOs who might reach retirement before the offer arrives, or only get a few years in the golden seat.
The likes of 2-4 year commands probably won’t arrive until the back end of this decade. Looking at numbers, retirements, expected global growth later this decade, it will be a challenge entering the 2030s as we are today. Those who are getting first GA jobs in the coming years will have good careers with no shortage of options by the time they reach the big turbine stuff. Those ‘in’ at the moment, will just need to be patient sadly.