Numbers...
I was informed by my cabin crew on a recent flight that there are currently VR EOI solicitations in long haul flight attendant ranks. The expectation is that there will be 400-500 slots available. Coupled with the administration cuts, that will total what? 1,800? ADL catering is closing: there is another hundred or two. So where is the other 3,000?
I submit that the 5,000 number always was a "shock 'n' awe" number crafted to elicit a response from government that subsequently failed. If I was going to extract a number from my well-travelled backside I would at least conjure up the illusion of accuracy by making it something like 4,762. The last significant digit implies a degree of accuracy, and hence competency, that round numbers do not. A lesson apparently untaught at Trinity College. That'll be $80,001 for the maths lesson.