Nearly the entire decade of the 1990's saw soaring pilot hiring in the States.
Are you freaking kidding me. There was little hiring in the 90s. Hiring didn't really start until 98 and ran till 01 and then the bottom really dropped out.
The only shortage is of guys willing to work at abysmally low wages at the entry levels of this biz. Unfortunately entry level now extends out about 10 yrs.