Originally Posted by
whalesurfer
This is not about needing an incentive, this is about the present realities. 5 days ago I had a conversation with a guy about just that. He'll turn 65 in 7 years. Optimistically speaking he's at least 10-11 years from earliest possible left seat (any domicile/any airplane, qol not even being considered). So he'll retire as an fo which he's ok with. However, for the rest of his life his pension will be 20% less than if he'd been a captain for a single day. That's what I call the secondary B-plan and it should be changed because so many new-hires nowadays are older than in the past.
Whalesurfer and others, I really enjoy the open civil disscussion, here is my take from the captain side, I hope I'm not taken as a senior guy pulling up the ladder.
For there truly to be a retirement B scale one would have to have done the same job but with a different payscale/retirement scale. That is not the case. I will concede the point that some will not have the ability to do the same job. Not everyone will make Captain but that does not a B scale make.
Also I would venture the idea that the flat rate retirement benefit is better for the FO (and FE back in the day) then the Captain. The FO can bypass for a unlimited time enjoying seniority and QOL, then on the very last day do the Captain gig and get the exact same retirement benefit as someone who slugged it out as a junior Captain. This higher paying retirement option would not be possible with the A plans top five years out of the last 10.
You don't have to agree but I wanted to state my thoughts.