After the first Gulf War, most military pilots who got out were able to secure a major airline job. Sorry if you didn't have the experience to get hired. This was from 91-93. Even Northwest hired a bunch.
From 96-2000 all major airlines were hiring. Hence, about 50+ guys I know were hired by Southwest alone.
These two statements tell me that your out of your mind or plain don't know what the hell your talking about.
There was very little hiring in the early 90s. Why do you think there were 2500+ hr flight instructors. It wasn't because they were professional-lifetime instructors. It was because there was NO movement, a-la no/little hiring. I seem to remember Pan Am going TU in '91 and what few jobs were available were snatched up by those highly qualified individuals. The hiring didn't really start picking up until '98
All of the majors were not hiring in '96.
I know for a fact that AA and US Air did not start until '98 or later.
I still have the scantron from AA and the app from US Air and those issue dates were in '98.