Hooray! If I want to retire before 60, I will. I sure like having the option though.

 

does anyone know what the ALPA polling showed and who actually responded?

shocking ALPA looking out for the senior pilots. now if they could only look out for the most junior pilots...

 

Well, duh, who has been members and paid dues the longest--it's about time that the union stopped pulling the rug out from under their longest paying members. At Air Canada Jazz they can retire anywhere between 55 and 65 --you get more in your retirement fund the longer you work--I don't see why it can't work here. I'm always amazed by how negative the outlook by some people on this forum about the whole flying gig is--I personally find it to not be that hazardous or stressful although there have been moments--however I'm glad that ALPA has finallly come to their senses and I predict that within 5years of the age changing everyone will wonder what all the fuss was about.


Fogey

 

do you mean by giving away flying by loosening scope. future jobs for junior pilots...

the most junior pilots have been getting screwed at the regionals too.

I'm curious where your currently sitting.

 

In my easy chair.

 

Eric,

73.1% of NWA pilots were against it.

 

Mike,

I think you will find that many of the pilots who opt to fly past 60 are not doing it because they want to. They will be doing it because they have to for financial reasons, mainly because of terminated pension plans.

I wonder how many would have supported the rule change if their pensions were in tact?

 

Fogey,

I think the union would have done the "older" guys a better service to protect their pensions in the first place. The way things are shaping up here now, they don't have a choice. They have to try to continue to work after losing 80% of what they were expecting after working for a company for 25+ years.

Believe me, I don't want to leave them out in the cold. I want them to get what they deserve and working until you are 65 is not it.

Now, as for you not thinking flying is not that big of a deal, how many days a month do you work? How many legs a day do you fly? How many hours a month do you fly?

While it is true that flying on its face once you know what is going on is not that stressful. But, when you take the cumulative effect of the factors mentioned above, its not easy. Especially when the answers are 19, 5 or 6, and 89.

Sometimes rules are put into place to protect us from ourselves. Remember the AA flight in Little Rock? We might think we can do something safely because we have done it so many times before.
But, 8 hours "bottle to throttle", 100 flight hours in a month, and 8 flight hours in a day, among other things are there for a reason. Safety.

Do you really believe that we will be safer now by allowing pilots to fly to age 65 in todays airline environment?

It's time for us to realize our limitations and not let financial considerations rule the day.

 

I too will most probably work past 60. I can't see leaving 1 million on the table just to retire at 60. I would LIKE to retire early but I will probably not be able to.

As for you wondering if opinions would be different if pensions were intact, I think that is pretty obvious. ALPA has always been opposed to raising the age. ALPA was dominated by United and Delta through out the years. As those two groups have lost their pensions, it is no surprise that the tide has changed. It is also no wonder that FedEx and UPS pilots are still opposed to 65. I too would like to get out at 60 or earlier. However, I have always been opposed to an arbitrary age forcing retirement.

 

Judging by the current seniority list, it seems that a significant number of guys go out on sick leave prior to age 60. My guess is that the medical issues will increase geometrically between ages 60 and 65.

If I go past 60, I don't plan to be flying more than 6 or 7 days a month.