There are plenty of FO with previous command time that are stuck in the RHS and waiting, so I would say at this time it would not speed things up. 3400 pilots now you would be 3401 so @ 6800 until upgrade and yes there will be retirements so it might or will be less than 6800 but not as many as one would think. Go LHS with your background if you can. EK upgrade is looking like 7+