How come many airlines are recruiting at the moment?
Probably because they have set out their stall for summer 2007 and will need the pilots to be ready when the summer biz starts. If they actively recruited during the busy summer period the pilots would have to go through their induction training, line training and, if a newbie, a type rating, by the time they had done all this it would be back into the winter schedule.
Also in winter there will be spare capacity and some under utilised aircraft which can be used by the newbies to do their mandatory circuits and landings.
So all in all the quiet times in an airline operation are the busy times in recruitment and training, getting the guys ready for action when the busy summer season starts, as I said there is no point in them recruiting in the height of summer unless in emergencies and usually for direct entry captains.
Makes sense really.