ReluctantEskimo

Nobody wants to take the keys from Grandpa.

And no one wants to be the one to ground ol' Captain Bob, airline legend and 40 year veteran of the airline. Using the training department as the one and only filter is bound to fail. Look at Colgan. They were rubber stamping everyone because they were chronically short staffed.

dera

So you claim most senior pilots fly short haul? Your seniority list disagrees. Most senior pilots tend to fly backside of the clock.

ugleeual

Apparently you are not a WB Captain flying internationally… no way around back side of the clock on part of a trip. Now if your a NB Captain for SWA that’s possible. I still have 10 years left and get 5 weeks of vaca… who u work for ?

rickair7777

So no point in having standards because they aren't enforced? That's ridiculous. 20 years ago bottom feeder regionals were in the business of putting less qualified and/or less experienced people in the seat... that was the business model. Standards changed, and what do you know it's been a long time since a major crash (knock wood).

Your argument actually made a bit of sense to me back in 2007 because 60 => 65 was uncharted territory. Well now we know, planes aren't falling out of the sky and it doesn't look like two more years will make much difference. Only statistics are internet forum anecdotes from people under 40. I'm senior, I fly with mostly 60+ and I've never observed any sort of deficit with one exception and that was a guy who had a bad commute day for a WOCL shift. So maybe one guy, or maybe not.

Real world results matter: I like the ATP rule and age 65 didn't seem to hurt anything.

I even know a 40-something sim instructor who busted recurrent LOE recently, just one of those things but the standard was upheld.

ReluctantEskimo

You've taken the exact wrong position. What I am saying is that using training events as your only screen represents a single point of failure. A point of failure that is very influenced by personal relationships and corporate pressures.

The more things change, the more things stay the same. Short staffing has worked its way to the majors. You better believe there is pressure to get people through.

And no one wants to be the one to fail beloved Captain Bob on his last CQ.

Wingtip220

reread my post…..by “CHOICE” or bad luck seniority wise and only able to bid redeyes. You can choose WB international or not. “CHOICE” is the individuals prerogative!

500RVR

https://www.reuters.com/business/aer...ge-2023-08-22/

JoseJimenez

They had a 43 yo captain on IOE die shortly after takeoff at ORD a couple of years ago. There are a lot of structural problems with hearts that cannot be diagnosed externally. They tend to show up in the early 40s with sudden death. (remember Pete Maravich?) After their 40s those are mainly filtered out. Maybe 40 should be the cutoff age? Just kidding of course. I've flown with a lot of young Captains and Captains in their 60's and I've never worried about the Captains dying in flight. I have worried about the the stupid things I've seen the younger captains do many times but don't remember having an older captain scare me a single time. So based upon my experiences, give me a bunch of 65-67 captains and fewer younger captains and I think everyone will be a lot safer overall. The change to 67 will be completed in the Aviation Bill this year.

Myfingershurt

no it won’t.

Profane Kahuna

Is the “Let Experienced Pilots Die Flying” act still around 4% chance of passing according to that betting odds site?

Can’t find the link.