Originally Posted by
Check Essential
Why are the pilots who still have the full defined benefit plan staying beyond age 60?
Is it a medical coverage problem?
Their pay rates as a senior captain might be pretty good but by giving up the retirement benefits they could be receiving, they are essentially working for a fraction of that pay rate.
Is it really worth the few dollars a month extra to work full time?
Help me understand the reasoning. I think if it were me, I'd be out fishing instead of working.
Originally Posted by
maddogmax
First, very few have a "full" defined benefit plan. Most were frozen at substantially less than anticipated. Despite Mr. Obama's claims, private health insurance is very expensive. One of the reasons I took the last early retirement package was that the company put close to $50K in a HSA for me to pay for health insurance until I turn 65. There is much more to the decision to retire than just a paycheck.
Originally Posted by
full of luv
Wow! Kinda puts it in perspective. Easy to say retire when your making 1/3 of that with no DB.
Call me a cynic, but let's get real. Check's original post had nothing to do with some altruistic "concern" for the truly best decision that a 62-year-old captain should make, and everything about him and the rest of us moving up a number.
I can remember lots of F/Os in the 2004-05 timeframe (big run of early retirements for PMDL guys) stating something like "if I were 50 years old and a day I would be outta here!"
Right..... For those who aren't familiar with all the particulars of the PMDL early retirements in the 2004-05 timeframe, if you were 58 or older, it was a no-brainer--retire early. If you were younger than that it was a tougher decision. If you were in your early 50s, it was really a poor decision to retire early, unless you were convinced DAL was about to liquidate (which we were perilously close to doing).
I know a guy who was a mid-seniority 767 captain, retired at age 52, and got $400,000 in a lump sum. He now only gets a small sum from the PBGC these days. Had he stayed in, he would just now be 62, having flown as a senior widebody captain for the last ten years. He regrets it mightily I am guessing.
Of course who could have forecast Age 65, and the fact that we got a stellar management team on the heels of a woeful one?
That said, I am sure that the same F/Os who kept saying "gee I don't get why these guys won't retire" are somewhat quieter now.