Quote:
Originally Posted by whalesurfer
He said that for years we all heard the most senior pilots here say "give us better retirement and we're out of here" - and then they all stayed. Don't blame them at all which is why I question your statement. I think we'll see very few retire "early" once we have a contract. Who knows..
I'll take the other side of that argument. People did say that last time and when the final contract came out, the retirement improvements were short of their needs. Some will argue that money went to FO pay improvements so far as fixing the 'slope" but we'll never really know. I've sat with different members of the negotiating team and EB from that time and been told differing stories.
This time, I think, things are a bit different. The demographics are far different. Most of us are now approaching 60 whereas very few were in that position before, and many of us will have 30 years, the maximum accrual in our A plan in a year or two. Nobody was close to getting a full A plan retirement in 06. While some start in a few years, the crowd of 30 year longevity guys starts to really pile on in the early years after that.
Again, when you look at demographics, a lot of people are in better financial shape after a few years of good pay, paying down or getting rid of mortgages, getting their kids through college, and maybe a home down size. Combine with the of "slope" in our schedules, i.e. the senior lines aren't a ton better than the junior, I think a lot of people will be in a much better financial and demographic position, and have had their fill of the brown funhouse than in in 06