I won’t dispute the union comments, on the other hand there was a reason the unions came about in the first place. I’m going to bet that a large majority of those new ATP-MEL were paid for by either the airlines who hired those pilots or the charter companies, due to the cost of the sim training requirements of the current rules. I believe pilot candidates are getting smart and are going for what they would consider is the best way to get their flying career going and not flying for nothing any more. I have known many former airline pilots who went through furloughs only to leave aviation for various reasons. There has not been a lot of recent news about the alleged shortage of CFIs. Airline fares have been unrealistically low for years, with the government doing all it can to keep it that way. Now with the current experience rules the cost of those pilots have gone up. The airlines have taken advantage of pilots willing to fly for nothing for years and now that that supply is drying up they are crying about the increased cost of those pilots they get. If a route cannot be profitable and has to be dropped then so be it. Same with different types of airplanes. If the government now will stop supplying financial support and let those airlines who are unable to stay profitable go under, the pilot supply situation will work itself out. That is how a free market is supposed to work. As I have said many times in the past, there is no such thing as a pilot “shortage” in this country, only a shortage of pilots willing to work for nothing.