I work on the ramp, loading and un-loading purple planes at night. I see a nice spread of ages among the pilots. I even remember talking to -10 FE one night while he was getting things ready up-front. He was indeed an older gentleman, and said that he used to fly in the left seat; yet now because he was over 60, he was on the panel. I don't remember looking at his stripes, so my question is this: is he still a Captain or do they take away his stripe? Does he now go from Captain pay back to wide-body FE pay? I had respect for this man, yet it must be strange to one day be the leader of the ship, and the next day being the guy in the back.

Thanks