Originally Posted by
AbjectFutility
I think he's closer to the truth than you.
Here's a thought exercise. What does the junior 1/3 of the seniority list think about including a funded pension (say...$80K/yr effective DOS) in the contract? What about increasing the retirement age to 67? What about ANYTHING that only benefits the top 1/3 of the list?
I've always been a big proponent of 'spreading the wealth' more evenly across the seniority spectrum, but IME I find it unappreciated from our newer hires. Every time i read that our reserve system sucks i want to yell NO FKCNG KIDDING!!!!!! Do you think I don't know that?? Unfortunately a lot of our pilots don't understand HOW we got here and come across as whiners.
Imma call bull**** here.
Anyone who wants a funded pension is stupid and hasn’t been watching as pensions get funneled by the company into debt streams and eventually lost. The right answer is to find a retirement account via 401k or some other retirement vehicle. Pension is dumb. Give me the money and make it mine to invest and hold as I see fit for my retirement.
67 is not about slowing seniority growth for me or my peers as much as it is a known loss of cognitive function as one gets older. Part of keeping 2 pilots in the cockpit is about ensuring they have the mental function to perform at a high level and the data isn’t there to support it. Sure, there are absolutely folks who don’t begin to lose cog function at 65 but the majority start at 60, and nearly all by 65. It isn’t worth it, it isn’t as safe as it needs to be.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27516712/
I understand the company would like to keep FSB and SC, fine, limit it, make it pay better than it does, and build out rules to protect people from getting regularly screwed. That’s the argument to be made.
I’m new to the company and well past the seniority needed to hold a line but I also know there are better ways to manage reserves, almost making it desirable and limit the leash they want to put you on. Im also thankful I didn’t have to spend 2 years on RSV or more.
No, it doesn’t have to be selfish to think 67 is stupid because it introduces declining mental health into the flight deck, and it doesn’t have to selfish to want better RSV rules for folks who are in that position.
If I misread your post and am reacting unfairly to it-my apologies but I thought your position was pretty lame.