Originally Posted by Nachomamma

The problem with feel-good speeches like that is that they conveniently ignore the reality of cognitive decline. Mental acuity declines with age - that's a medical certainty, no matter how much people like to pretend that it isn't.

Furthermore, as we all know about aviation, nothing is more valuable to a pilot than his ego. Therefore, you'll hear all kinds of "I'm in great shape, feel young, yay for my super attitude!" crap as nothing more than a smokescreen of desperation to avoid being exposed and kicked the curb. The truth is that it really is a safety issue and eventually, a couple of easily confused gummers will put one into the side of mountain because they just loved money too much and everyone around them was just too polite/afraid to say anything.

I get it...no one wants to be told they can't do this anymore - it's painful to hear. The money is decent and we hardly work at all anyway (cc52 particularly). Who'd want to give that up? This is called a conflict of interest. Under the current system, a safety decision is being left up to the one person who stands to make money from making an unsafe decision. Eventually someone will get hurt.

It appears now that a mandatory retirement age is now on the horizon, and whether it hurts your feelings or not, it's sorely needed. Deal with it.