Originally Posted by ultradrvr
Lets talk about performance...not one of you older capts can sit here and say you are as sharp at 59 as you were at age 43....not one...
Al Haynes was 59. I think he did ok, don't you?
Also, for you people that are concerned about your retirements....money should never take precidence over safety!!!! The FAA didnt write the reg with money in mind....I believe it was safety.
Make no mistake, Age 60 has NEVER been about safety, it's always been about money. It was started by the president and founder of AA, C.R. Smith, who wanted to get those old expensive guys out of the seat. IOW, MONEY! ALPA opposed and the FAA went with management.
Interestingly, Smith tried to impose the age 60 rule as a matter of company policy. When ALPA grieved it and won, Smith went to the FAA to make it regulatory. It seems that in the 1950's ALPA was able to refute every point AA made concerning health and safety of older pilots in the grievance process.
If age 60 was for health and safety issue in 1959, surely age 65 is a equivalent age for 2006.
Now if you want to make an economic argument, I'm willing to listen. But, Age 60 has never been about safety.