The wall of retirement posters in dtw begs to differ.

Besides, I was almost 11250 at the merger and now I'm approaching 10650.... That's 600 people leaving when there are technically no scheduled retirements.

It makes me exited to think how things will move once people actually have to start going. ;)

Why ya leaving and where ya going? Me. I'm excited!

Airline piloting is a crappy career by design. That was the case even when the industry was regulated. Hence the age old saying to always keep your first house and first wife.

I'm loathe to use personal finances as a yardstick for changing retirement age because that argument places pilots' personal needs above safety.
In 2012, I will hit 8+ years on furlough in the 12 years since being hired by United. I'm not alone in that fate; I'm just fortunate that I didn't get hired at AMR because those furloughees have seen their careers crater even more than United furloughees.
I've done OK financially since being furloughed but there are plenty of others who have had a very tough road to hoe. And the second furlough was even tougher for many of us than the first.
Have there been more old pilots than young pilots who have had their homes foreclosed on in the last decade? I'll bet that more young pilots have lost their homes.

So let's say we ignore safety aspects of aging because {sarcasm] we all KNOW that every airline pilot is Benjamin Button - as they get older, they are better, stronger, sexier, faster, etc. [/sarcasm] We would need to use personal finances as a measurement of whether or not we should allow pilots to continue to fly past a certain age. What's the maximum amount of personal wealth that a pilot could have without being forced to retire? $1 million? $10 million? Pick a number because if anyone's using the personal finance argument as the reason for/against an age change, they're saying that safety doesn't matter.

65's now the law. It isn't going to get rolled back to 60. But you would have to be extremely naive to think that there aren't forces at work pushing to increase retirement age. Frankly, it's in the government's best interest to have all citizens work until one day prior to dying.

... I'm still waiting to read details from Johnso29 on these 163 retirements at Delta.

ahem, justdoingmyjob... from earlier in the thread. :D

I was trying to figure out how to put a "your" where there should be a "you're" but couldn't make it work. Just making sure your up to speed on things.

We've been through 2 early out incentive programs at DL and each time around 150 took it. The most recent program was offered in June or so of last year with the outs taking effect from sept-jan... 163 took that offer.

From what I can gather listening to guys talk in the crew room, for most of the fNWA guys, it can make more sense to go early rather than wait to 65 because of the cost of health insurance. I don't really listen though. AFAIC, they will go when they go, and I'll just keep waiting for that day.

Other than trying to scare the Bejebus outta them while flying, the only other way I can think to hasten their departure is to ditch em in some Ebola infested cathouse in Africa.

your a good friend!

600? Really? How many have you had retire in the last year? Month by month?
The early buyout took out 215 in 2009. 215 pilots take Delta buyout offers | ajc.com

Were there other external factors for the other 375 retirements?

Edit: You posted that there was another early retirement package which took out another 163 while I was posting. So that accounts for all but 200.

Thanks. That confirms 'special circumstances'. Johnso29 tried to sell the retirements as pilots who chose to benevolently retire before reaching age 65. He failed to mention incentive packages for those retiring 'early'.

Nobody "benevolently" retires, regardless of industry. It is incentives that make it worthwhile to go before you have to. My own Dad, used to say, "The day they give me a piece of paper with the right numbers on it, is the day I go." That day eventually came, and he promptly did not let the door hit him in the butt.