Iver,
I'm sure you're right about pilots wanting to return, but it was explained to us that this is driven by the retirement statistics and hiring more middle aged'ish' pilots would compound the problem. The numbers we were quoted indicated is is not a cheap option for VS..quite the reverse in fact. I will be interested to see how the new pilots manage the frequency of the landings, but I imagine this has been addressed (extra sims perhaps). Interesting times!