Backside of the power curve
He deliberately flew EK into the backside of the power curve in terms of pilot recruitment. He climbed to new record heights. The consequential loss of speed/crew factor was great since it created wonderful short term savings. I am sure his master was pleased.
The laws of physics tell us that there is only one way out - a controlled descent to pick up speed and ultimately be saved. That would mean to give you guys some slack immediately. People are leaving for lifestyle and health reasons. Of course this would have an immediate impact on cruising altitude or in this case revenue.
So my bet is on option two. He will keep on pulling back the stick to climb to ever new record heights. I assume that not all of you will get their "full" 30 days leave. Is that noise the stick shaker?