Originally Posted by
fullflank
Age has nothing to do with "sitting around doing nothing". If a 5th year captain was number one on the list, he would have that same great schedule. I think companies would be happy to pay top payscale instead of training cost. I read (dont know who accurate this is) that every 1 retirement at AA triggers 6 training events. Thats alot of doubt.
There are significant training costs that are delayed/saved by increasing retirement age. This varies depending on the airline - Southwest only saves two training events (one upgrade, one new hire) but the legacies have reaped significant savings by delaying multiple training events per retirement.
There are other cost savings that aren't as quanitifiable as training costs. Getting more productive years out of pilots increases the overall supply of pilots which helps depress wages.
The problem we now face with another age increase is that stealth organizations such as IATA will be pushing for higher retirement ages. AARP, the most powerful lobby in DC, will be happy to join forces with any organization pushing for age increases. And let's not forget the politicians - they'll happily support higher retirement ages because it allows them to kick the social security time bomb down the road a little further.