Recruitment has definitely slowed down, they are being careful after the covid mess they made! They retrained 1000 plus pilots in less than a year so of course it can be done with the increased training capacity now with them re joiner trainers. It's just an excuse, they would never tell anybody what is going on , Q3 2023 is a long way off, dont waste your time waiting for EK. EU/UK is by far safer in what is expected to be a tough couple of years ahead!