Age 65 originated with ICAO. Despite the angst coming from some quarters, it was the FAA Administrator who stated the FAA would follow suit. The majority of pilot union members were against it for obvious reasons, but union leaders could only mitigate the change, not stop it.

 

If I had known about age 65 I probably wouldn't have gotten into aviation. Since I was 16 years old people have been telling me about all of the pilots that would retire. Age 65 was the worst thing that happened to my aviation career. The guys over 60 that are still flying are taking QOL and pay out of the hands of the younger guys.

 

Age 70? Not a chance in hell. Regardless of what a very few folks might think, at some point age really does have a hard scientific correlation to diminished cognitive capacity, short term variability in cognitive capacity, and rapidly increasing risk of sudden incapacitation. It's irrelevant how you did in the sim or the AME's office last month, if there's a significant risk of rapid decline on any given day.

Age 65 grew out of the ICAO standards, it became politically difficult to deny US pilots the right to do what foreign pilots were already doing in our airspace. Fundamentally I agree with this...was it good for me personally right now? No.

Did a few guys make out like bandits? Yes, but it was going to happen eventually anyway and SOME age group was going to get to have their cake and eat it too. Doesn't really matter who I guess.

However...I totally disagree with alpa supporting this. They are charged with representing the interests of their members, and they had polling results which clearly spelled out the position of a large majority of the membership. They should have stuck with that position, and not come up with some lame excuse not to. Personally I believe that decision was motivated by senior (ie old) leadership not wanting the thing to die on the vine...it would have come up again eventually but those guys were afraid that it might have been too late for them when it did.

 

At the legacy carriers, most of the older guys are still flying because their pensions disappeared in bankruptcy. Can't hardly blame them for that.

Because of my age, I am not eligible for my full Social security benefit until I am 66 and 6 months. If I fly Part 121, that means I have 18 months with no salary or SS - or a lifetime of reduced SS benefits. Perhaps they should increase the age to cover that!

The guys who are still flying after age 60 are taking nothing from you. They are doing the job they have done their whole lives, and earning the money they need to live in retirement. Bill, you are probably alot younger than me. You will get your chance.

 

Are you saying you would step aside at 60 to make room for a 25 years old person you don't know? Why do you think your entitled to this? They paid their dues too. If anything they lost more because the game has changed so rapidly in the last 10 years so they need to stay on longer. This isn't your fathers career anymore get used to low wages and poor QOL. Once you spend a few years in the real world you will understand why its about you and no one else. Its a tough world and you better be ready to walk over others or they will walk over you.

 

This is my contention..... If ALPA saw it as inevitable, they should have done a better, more thorough job of explaining why, and cease with the polls if they don't intend to follow them......
Also, why not try and mitigate the damage to the majority of the pilots in the union by phasing in the age change over a pieriod of 10 years or so, like increase the age one year every two years. What they produced instead was a MAJOR windfall for the 59.5 yr olds and screwed everyone under 50 and over 60.
BTW, everyone's pension had been wiped away, what about the 60 yr old who has no opportunity to earn any of it back?
All you have to do is look at the leadership of ALPA at the time to see who really benefited immediately.

 

This is my contention..... If ALPA saw it as inevitable, they should have done a better, more thorough job of explaining why, and cease with the polls if they don't intend to follow them......
Also, why not try and mitigate the damage to the majority of the pilots in the union by phasing in the age change over a pieriod of 10 years or so, like increase the age one year every two years. What they produced instead was a MAJOR windfall for the 59.5 yr olds and screwed everyone under 50 and over 60.
BTW, everyone's pension had been wiped away, what about the 60 yr old who has no opportunity to earn any of it back?
All you have to do is look at the leadership of ALPA at the time to see who really benefited immediately.

 

This is my contention..... If ALPA saw it as inevitable, they should have done a better, more thorough job of explaining why, and cease with the polls if they don't intend to follow them......
Also, why not try and mitigate the damage to the majority of the pilots in the union by phasing in the age change over a pieriod of 10 years or so, like increase the age one year every two years. What they produced instead was a MAJOR windfall for the 59.5 yr olds and screwed everyone under 50 and over 60.
BTW, everyone's pension had been wiped away, what about the 60 yr old who has no opportunity to earn any of it back?
All you have to do is look at the leadership of ALPA at the time to see who really benefited immediately.

 

This is my contention..... If ALPA saw it as inevitable, they should have done a better, more thorough job of explaining why, and cease with the polls if they don't intend to follow them......
Also, why not try and mitigate the damage to the majority of the pilots in the union by phasing in the age change over a pieriod of 10 years or so, like increase the age one year every two years. What they produced instead was a MAJOR windfall for the 59.5 yr olds and screwed everyone under 50 and over 60.
BTW, everyone's pension had been wiped away, what about the 60 yr old who has no opportunity to earn any of it back?
All you have to do is look at the leadership of ALPA at the time to see who really benefited immediately.

 

For years there was two ways to take control of your pension, quit or get divorced. Many pilots got divorced and gave the pension to the wife in the settlement, then got remarried. Some wives took a walk.