If mandatory age 60 retirement was not age discrimination or against the law according to the courts, why would age 65 be? Might want to do some research before posting blather. As for age 70, all I have to say is....get out my seat, beotch. (and stop it with the ben gay. It stinks)

Shop Talk + Sex + Gossip + Controversy.

It's what pilots want. :D

There were perhaps half a dozen attempts since age 60 was mandated to overturn it in the courts. All the attempts lost on the basis of safety. The courts have long ruled that in the interest of public safety you can mandate a retirement age.
When the ICAO raised the retirement age to 65 and the FAA agreed it was safe for pilots to fly into the US over age 60 the safety issue was no longer a viable defense in court. Everyone knew at that point age 65 was a done deal in the US when the next case went through the court system.
The only thing that amazed me is that it was not retroactive. How they managed to keep that from happening surprised me. There are actions in court now over that issue and I suspect they will win but the individuals will be to old to return to flying when the decisions are made.
If ICAO goes to 70 which is highly unlikely and the FAA allows that flying into the US then the US rule will go to 70 shortly after. I don't however think there is any real chance of that and there has not even been a discussion of it as far as I know.

But it was retroactive. The guys who had already retired at age 60 were given the opportunity to return at the bottom of the seniority list.

Surprise! No one did.

There may have been a few airlines that allowed that but it was up to the airlines. Most airlines required a pilot be rehired and go through the entire interview process. There were a few at Delta who bailed in the pre chapter 11 timef rame who came back via being a new hire.

Because it was never about "poor me, do you know about how much health insurance is gonna cost me?". It was about, "Look at me, top of the pay scale, weekends and holidays off, king of the hill....why yes, I DO think that I should get to stay".

The change in the retirement age was kept on the down low right up until they jammed it through with the "Fair treatment for experienced pilots" title that hid what it really was. It was a crap sandwich to let the government off the hook for allowing pensions to get stolen and it only cost pretty much every FO at a major 5 extra years in the right seat while keeping regional pilots stuck in the lower paying trenches. Thankfully, I'm not bitter....