From what I'm seeing at ASA- lots of people that were holding out for DAL are now applying to USAirways. I can see the pool getting shallower and shallower, from where I sit. I'd say a healthy 70% of the Captains at ASA are not going to move on, without the liquidation of their employer.
My brother in law just finished AF flight training, and graduated first in his class. He ran to the C-17 because he knew he'd be flying, and not joining an unmanned aircraft group. The class immediately in front of him went 100% UAV. Since that time does not qualify you for logged flight time at a Major, or any where else for that matter, where else is the pool of pilots going to come from?????? Even the military is drying up.
From what my contacts are saying- when DAL starts to hire, they intend to do so indefinately for a VERY lengthy amount of time. It's getting to the point that ASA (ExpressJet) and the DAL MEC is in talks with management to establish a pilot pipeline between the two companies- a sort of flow. This is strictly theory for now, but it is being discussed as an option.