The folks at AIR, Inc., tell ANN that March of 2004 was the best pilot hiring month since 9/11/2001 and that the first three months of 2004 equaled 50% of 2003's hiring total! The Nationals hired an impressive 440 pilots, followed by the Jet Operators with 269, and the Majors with 103 pilots. The furlough numbers continued to decrease. The Non-jet Operator sector reported just nine pilots on furlough or less than 1% of its present pilot force! The Jet Operator and National sectors saw furlough figures increase slightly, from 49 to 54 and 649 to 701 respectively. Yes, 2004 is definitely looking better for the pilot job market. At the current rate airline pilot hiring for 2004 will exceed 9,000 new jobs.