Originally Posted by
Piloto Noche
I hear this one quite a bit. Let me pose a question to you.
Let's say the company is willing to give you a pie that is worth an extra $30/hour per crew member and in return we raise the retirement age to 65.
If we say no way, we want to keep it at 60, the company will come back with an, "ok, we'll keep it at 60 and give the crew members a $5 / hour pay raise".
Will that be ok with you? If you are 59 years old, that may work for you (if you really leave at 60). If you are 55 or less, you are probably screwing yourself; especially if you get to age 60 and decide to work an extra year or two. (Look at the current evidence. How many are actually leaving at 60 now?)
If you are in your thirties or forties, there may not even be an A plan when you get to retirement age and then you will have really boned yourself out of years of earnings.
Don't be a single-issue voter.
In your example the guy 55 who wants to work an extra year or two will be screwed because anything under 65 would be penalized. We need to incentivize early outs not punish it. We should not reward staying in longer.
No increase past 25 years of service. No penalties for leaving before 65. Heck I would like to see pilots with 25 years of service be able to get out before 60 with no punishment. And yes I would be willing to pay for it. If no one is actually leaving it should not be that expensive right.