NoStep,

There are two problems I see that I doubt will change much regardless of number of active pilots.

1) People have no problem buying their tickets from Orbitz or Travelocity as long as they can have it $1 cheaper. These same people put blind faith that the government will keep them safe from all harm because they monitor flight crew training and other mandates. Then when there are crashes these same geniuses that can't run the post office or Amtrak now propose even more useless laws on the books so that the priceline.com crowd will feel better knowing their government put words to paper and fix everything.

2) Even with age 65 I don't think we'll see the pilot shortage everyone is talking about. For starters, this recession isn't going to be adding any jobs for a few years. Airlines like Delta want to cut a lot of routes from their schedule so who knows how many pilots will be needed in the future. And remember, there wasn't always an age 60 now 65 rule. You could literally fly until you died, or at least stop passing your medicals. So who knows if there won't be a movement in a year or so for age 70.

Secondly, the airlines will lobby and get exemptions to address the pilot shortage if one ever happens. The government could always open up our domestic routes to foreign carriers and now you'll be competing against the Frenchy French for your domestic route.

Bottom line: have a backup plan. Do what we always do, plan for the worst and hope for the best. And no matter what you do, don't put your faith in some politician to save or create your job. Thats just a road of disappointment.

The Chow