50 years young. I think I heard new-hire bids are by age within class, so maybe I'll have a choice (if there are any)?

You most definitely will!

(If there are choices)

Yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of the inevitable aging process, but I'll take whatever advantages I can get. (And aging definitely beats the alternative!)

you’ll unquestionably have a choice if there is one…

I’ve seen some new hire classes with 2060s retirement dates so you’re talking still ink wet ATP certificates because they’re just legal to hold one.

Last month I had a kid on my jumpseat in a Delta blazer all of 24 years old. God bless him. He was chatting up my FO (who has his apps out) and saying he will put in his bid for upgrade next (this) year. Boom, 40 years left seat in a legacy.

Got me thinking, is it going to be fulfilling to do four decades with nowhere else upward to go? Sure there are other type ratings, maybe training or management. But for the most part that’s it. The money is certainly compelling.

Is the view from the top as scenic if you didn’t have to climb all the greasy little rings to get there?

It probably is..

Well, Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne and was there for 70 years. She seemed to do okay.

I’d literally rather stop flying than spend 40 years flying with delta pilots. Not everyone wants this and that’s ok.

Maybe, but the last 20-25 years I don’t think I ever saw a person look more bored. If it wasn’t for the pesky parliament, I’ll bet she would have colonized a few more countries just for kicks on a Friday night…

Maybe the United States? Just asking…