Originally Posted by
Vito
YYesiav8,
While I don't want to come across as being against any pilot's right to work till they die, what probably bothers me, and many others about this topic is the fact that the goalposts keep moving. I'm a Capt, and have been for 10 years now, so I can't complain as loud as others here, but part of the "Benefits" of this profession was that you retired at 60 yrs old. That was a good thing, not bad or discriminitory. The older pilots took a good deal and are eroding it with every bump in the retirement age. I love flying and I love my job...I don't want to be flying at 3:00 AM in freezing Wx when I'm 60..I really question guys who do? Like I said earlier, if you love flying there are lots of jobs/activities you can do that still let you fly well past retirement age. Here's my challenge, after you turn 60 yrs old, a pilot can elect to stay at the airline as an F/O BUT at the bottom of the seniority list., and the lower pay scale...lets see how many of you will do that! after all your still flying. Me thinks many of you guys will be gone in an instant.
Vito, How are THEY eroding anything? THEY are just exercising their rights under the FAR's and their CBA's. Is it not their right? You seem to think it is their obligation to forgo their careers so your's can advance. Why should they? Because somebody changed the rules?
Rules change all the time in all facets of life. All the *****ing in the world isn't going to change them back. I understand your frustration, believe me, I do. It's costing me nearly a 1000 numbers right now. But there's not a damn thing I can do about it and calling other pilots names certainly isn't going to help us with the elusive unity we are always pining for.
I don't mean this as an insult, but its time to grow past this...move on and decide that the battle isn't with your fellow pilot. It's with the politicians, number crunchers, lawyers and a whole host of other people who would like to further diminish your career.
Rant over, my apologies to all.