Originally Posted by FreightDawgyDog

Bob was on strike for two years with Continental. I've spent 8+ years on furlough. I've worked for 13 airlines as a result. Pilots at UAL, USAIR, DAL, NWA, plus almost all ALPA carriers have either lost or will lose their pension. Most senior UAL pilots wear a gold screw pin over their ALPA pin.

So the answer is make the junior pilot pay for what has happened to you, Bob and all pilots who have lost their pension? Just wondering why you kept ending up at carriers that didn't make it or furloughed you. I know I didn't even consider airlines that were not solid financially. As far as those losing pensions, they have my utmost sympathy and I am sure it is very traumatic for them. That being said, these pilots have lived under the most lucrative contracts in airline history and anyone who knows this industry knows that no airline was ever exempt from ceasing to exist, much less losing their pension. All these guys had friends at Eastern, Pan Am, TWA etc. There is really no excuse for not being prepared for the worst and they had the opportunity to do it under those contracts. There is a legal system that can be used to recover those lost pensions. I'll be glad to contribute to help them fight it, but think changing age 60 because it hurts instead of helps them now isn't the solution. Why should pilots on the street be kept there an extra 5 years, or junior pilots be kept out of seats they have waited patiently for, just because guys like you aren't ready to leave the seats they upgraded to because those ahead of them had to retire at 60? Remember, these are the same pilots that benefited from the B fund days at junior pilots expense. They had the resources to be ready for this, even if no one could have predicted how it would come about.