I think Tankerclown has it about right. Caveat, I work at SWA but have no inside knowledge on the hiring decisions.
I'd be careful about getting too worked up with the decision though, whatever it is. Tankerclown was also right that there is no legally binding law to the 'pool' or the 'pool list.' I mean, you were all told that you could 'continue the process' right, not that you were 'hired.' After 2+ years of 'continue the process' I still remember the distinction and the vaguely uncomfortable feeling that comes with the parsing of the langauge.
After saying that though, I still think that a 'continue the process' from SWA is as good a promise as you will get in this industry, better than a 'hired' from many airlines that proceeded to cancel classes and kick out new hire classes after 9/11.
There is a finite number of guys that are over 60 that already retired and of that list (200 ish, I'd guess) not all will want to come back. Those that do might delay your start a few classes, but they certainly won't delay your eventual upgrade since they will 65 out before they can upgrade, giving you LESS time as a FO (although more time if you count the time off property).
(assuming no funny business with the law and seniority, although I think SWAPA would take a very dim few to any kind of super-seniority for retread FOs)
SWA seemed to be one of the few airlines that was/is pretty open about its pool priority, etc. UPS does some kind of competitive screen, so you might be in the pool for years while guys that interviewed last week get hired before you.
So, even if some 60+ guys 'jump the line' I don't think it will be that relevant in the big picture compared to the alternatives.
