Not quite sure that there is any correlation. Perhaps the union shares the same opinion as you,
I would respectfully suggest your management does not! It is likely well aware of the retirement rate increase and is positioning ahead to control labour unit cost
If that were true management are just setting themselves up to get whipsawed. Maybe they don’t care because by then they will have quit. Who knows?
They are not stupid, and obviously they think they can undercut their own contractors so the labour has to becoming from somewhere.
There are a lot expat Australian pilots out there, what price will bring them home is a interesting question yet to be answered