Well lets see...(end of sarcasm). You want to send a 70 year old out on a 7 day trip to remote parts of the world, because his pride won't let him admit that his skills might degrade after 10 hours of flying? Even a 30 year olds skills degrade after 10 hours of flying. Now do it back to back for 7 days across multiple time zones.
What is in the corporation's best interest? Hmmm I don't know...Safety?
Wherewithal to pay for it?...... Hmm you got a $50million dollar jet and 8 million dollar a year budget. You don't think that you could find $450K give one of your employees a nice sendoff before he damages your aircraft? I'm not the one who invented the age 60 rule (or the age 65 rule), but you can bet that in this PC climate that every HR manager in the country is afraid to confront a pilot who is over age 60.
So what do you do? You let a guy fly around when he is not up to the task? Risk a lawsuit? Offer an incentive that statistically would improve safety (maybe even reduce cost long term), and allow a dedicated worker to retire comfortably? Or hope that he loses his medical before someone gets hurt?
The flipside to this is that employers are now adverse to hiring anyone in their 50's for fear that they will have to deal with this issue sooner rather than later. Ultimately I think this hurts older pilots who have not reached retirement age.
Would I extend it to everyone??? If they were a plant manager in charge of a $50 million dollar building capable of traveling to far off lands, slightly below the speed of sound with the company's executive team inside I would. Could the Janitor kill the CEO by forgetting to dust the credenza? Could the secretary kill the CEO by forgetting to arrange a conference room? So your answer is no. Just pilots. Lifes not fair. Boo Friggin Hoo.
The only other reason to keep flying past your prime (other than the aforementioned financial necessity and boredom - which we already solved with a big check) is EGO. For that there is no cure other than embarassment.
I've seen Bob Hoover fly when he was in his late 70's and he was better then than I will ever be, so I will concede that it can be done. When I retire, (hopefully at age 60) if the flying bug is still in me, I will buy my own plane again, it would be nice if my employer helped me make the downpayment.
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