It has always been one of my longest held beliefs that the break even point of an airline career at the majors is between 35 and 40 years of age. After that time one faces steeply accelerated depreciating returns.

The goal of every airline pilot should be to reach the left seat at a major airline and to acquire enough seniority to enjoy the position for long enough top be worth the previous decades of sacrifice. In my experience it commonly takes 10 to 15 years to upgrade at most majors (MD80,737) and a few years after that to reach a level of seniority to become comfortable with their choices of lines. After the age of 40 the time left isn't enough to reach the promised land at most airlines and by 45 the party is over. That being said the average age of new hires lately has been around 37 years old.

In order to make it to super star pilot status (747-400, 777 Captain) one almost needs to be hired on at birth. Of course the proposed age limit change to 65 would have an effect however pilots also start dropping out due to health issues by 55 as well.

In conclusion if you care at all about your financial future or about career and life goals a good idea is to have limits and standards in place and a solid exit strategy. Being a furloughed FO at 52 would not be much fun.

SkyHigh