Chicago Tribune article on Age 60...

[Andy]

Well...what was the safety impact of making the mandatory age 60? Age 60 wasn't determined by using any medical data.

Bottom line....people are living healthier and longer lives than they did in the 60's and 70's.

When you write your congressman, don't use any health examples, because there is not any health data available from the FAA to back it up. Tell him it will hurt your upgrade/return from furlough...and doggone it, you deserve to be in the left seat as soon as possible !!!

Tejas

Tejas-jet, you might want to read the Federal Air Surgeon's Congressional testimony before you Cliff Claven it. I don't remember the exact details (and too lazy to look up the testimony right now), but he stated that four separate tests were run (IIRC, sometime in the 90s) and the results indicated a 'J' curve starting at age 55. IIRC, he said that the graph gets rather steep past 55.

Just because we live longer, it doesn't mean that we're healthier. The resultant increase in longevity is due to medical advances. Medical advances which do not measure the quality of life.
So you say that we're healthier now. How about you find a chart on the obesity rate over the last 40 years? Looks like we're turning into a nation of fatties. I suppose if you consider obesity healthy, then your statement that we are more healthy is true.

Now if you want concrete medical data, how about getting sick leave usage based on age from the airlines? Something tells me that you're going to find a spike in sick leave usage starting at, oh, 55.

 

[Andy]

Probably out flying a trip. Oh yeah, and 20 years ago, I'll bet there wasn't a cub reporter knocking on his door...not to mention, this wasn't even a debate 20 years ago, with a bill in each of the respective houses of congress.

Tejas

The REASON why this wasn't a debate 20 years ago is because the pilots of the WWII generation had a few things that many of the Vietnam era pilots lack. Honor. Integrity. Selflessness.
When they were senior pilots, they stepped aside and made room for the next generation of pilots in the name of safety. Many of the Vietnam era pilots don't give a crap about safety and are going kicking and screaming into the night.

Not all of the senior pilots are behaving in this childish manner, but certainly enough of them to get the interest of Congress.

 

[Andy]

That is Capt. Herb Hunter a REAL class act.

Capt Hunter is definitely a class act. Ex-ILANG out of ORD. He had retired prior to me joining the unit. I got a chance to fly with his wife; I believe her last name was Feruzza (she never changed it when they got married). She was a boom operator. Another class act.