Regarding the looming retirement, I believe it is important to consider the following so that new joiners now what to expect:
- Until 2029, the expected retirements will be around ~12 per year. It will only increase to around ~35 per year from 2029 onwards, but will not exceed 36. These figures obviously do not take into consideration people leaving for other companies (very few!), people taking part time (quite a lot!), and people leaving due to other reasons (e.g. loss of medical, early retirement).
- Currently, the number of pilots is 737, ie anyone joining now will be #738.
- In the last bidding round, you needed a seniority number below 220 to get a left seat on the Challenger 350. Obviously, anything larger than a Challenger 350 will draw even more interest.