I'm tired of passengers asking me "are you sure he is safe to fly" bc of the age of some guys. And I know which guys I won't fly with during a jeopardy event in training bc they can barely work the fms.

 

You're missing your chance there. Training events are when these people are identified, and eventually eliminated for lack of ability. Don't refuse to fly with them - fly with them, let them hang themselves, and watch the process work. Good riddance - much safer for everyone that way.

 

Apply to NJA with 20,000+ hrs of 121 time and see how far you get. I've personally heard the answer. 1999-2006 management philosophy was a whole lot different. Now an honest question I haven't been told the answer; why would mgmt not want guys with 20,000 hrs? I can only come up with one answer, and it relates to the guys in their 70s the company genuinely would like to leave. NJA nolonger pairs 65+ with another 65+ on international trips, including Canada and Mexico.

 

I know there's exceptions to everything, but at my company (similar to NJA but smaller), all of the retired airline guys are fantastic and a pleasure to fly with. They crawl around the back of that Citation X, clean the crapper, and load bags without complaints. And they're all in great shape. I believe that is half the battle.

 

Amen to Learflyer. I was the last age 60 mandatory retirement at Delta. Netjets hired me and I had 2 good years before the furlough. The key is what physical condition you are in and attitude. I was in pretty good shape then. The thing I liked about NJ was that we could deliver a very premium experience. When I started my airline career in the mid 70's, flying was something special. People dressed nice and we tried to make it special for them. Over the years it deteriorated to an airborne bus ride. I hated that. Even as the Captain, you had little influence. NJ was like a breath of fresh air. If it was not unsafe or illegal, we could probably make it happen. I had no problem cleaning and stocking or loading and unloading bags and all the other stuff we did. I wanted my plane to be as perfect as I could make it. With 23,000 hours and a former sim instructor and line check airman, I knew how to fly. The Flight Safety system was different, but I adjusted. When the recall came, I was 66 and no longer in the physical condition needed to do the NJ job, so I declined. Too bad, it was a fun job. During my time at NJ, I flew with guys older than me who were in great shape and some much younger that were fat and lazy. It is the individual that matters. Stop trying to categorize all old guys as incompetent. You might learn something useful from them.
Sailaway

 

The problem with feel-good speeches like that is that they conveniently ignore the reality of cognitive decline. Mental acuity declines with age - that's a medical certainty, no matter how much people like to pretend that it isn't.

Furthermore, as we all know about aviation, nothing is more valuable to a pilot than his ego. Therefore, you'll hear all kinds of "I'm in great shape, feel young, yay for my super attitude!" crap as nothing more than a smokescreen of desperation to avoid being exposed and kicked the curb. The truth is that it really is a safety issue and eventually, a couple of easily confused gummers will put one into the side of mountain because they just loved money too much and everyone around them was just too polite/afraid to say anything.

I get it...no one wants to be told they can't do this anymore - it's painful to hear. The money is decent and we hardly work at all anyway (cc52 particularly). Who'd want to give that up? This is called a conflict of interest. Under the current system, a safety decision is being left up to the one person who stands to make money from making an unsafe decision. Eventually someone will get hurt.

It appears now that a mandatory retirement age is now on the horizon, and whether it hurts your feelings or not, it's sorely needed. Deal with it.

 

If you are not making written reports of these pilots to FDAC, you are doing everyone a disservice, including them! It also makes you part of the problem.

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You are something, and I bet you are a "delight" for the guys junior to you. I've seen plenty your type. The type I, me and myself. Baby future scab

 

I go to recurrent to pass.
If you want to talk about safety, then figure out how we can average about 10k fatigue calls a year.

 

The right thing isn't always easy.

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