Originally Posted by
Scoop
You would be surprised how at how many senior widebody Captains live for the job. I saw some senior DAL Captains risk close to a million $ (and eventually lose a lot of it) to keep flying. They have been doing this for decades and their identity is tied to being an airline pilot first and foremost. And this wasn't even "premium widebody flying."
Scoop
I'm not sure I agree that any senior pilot who stuck around did so because he ties his identity into flying airplanes. For many it was a decision that has proven worthwhile.
For starters, almost every pilot who had $1 million or more in a lump sum retired early...many of them were 58 or 59 anyway! But for every "chump" that you "can't believe" stuck around, there are quite a few more that I personally know who went early at 51, took $500,000 AT MOST, and now are kicking themselves over and over. They could be senior 767-400 or 777 captains, still making close to $200K a year, with better (though not great) medical benefits, decent DC plan, and with age 65 now the rule, could still be looking at 10 more years of flying ahead of them. For them, it was a bad decision. And for many of the senior guys who stuck around, I contend it was not just about tying up their identity into the airlines...it was a rational decision that MAY just have turned out to be a good one.
But hey, if we all had crystal balls, we would know how to bet at the roulette wheel and race track!