Fact: age 60 is discrimation at its finest. Healthy and able today, gone at the stroke of midnight. It's just not right and cannot be backed by any facts for its existance.
Healthy and able? Are you as healthy as say... me? I'm in my early 30's sitting in the right seat flying back and forth across the Pacific. I fly with some of the finest gentlemen and some ladies who have served this airline, our industry and our military for decades. But I can't tell you how many mistakes I catch from older guys, from simple math and simple paperwork, to them just not quite "getting" the re-route clearance, to confused looks when things don't quite go the way things normally do, to simple multitasking, to them "forgetting" to flare, the list goes on and on. But man, God help me if I so much as suggest that they're not quite as healthy and able as they once were. They are up at arms, and they ALL think they can keep trucking well beyond 60.
I'll tell you what... take away ANY financial reason for me i.e. pay-protect me or upgrade me, and I'll be singing the same tune.... AGING IS REAL, OUT AT 60. Personally, I'm all for Cathay Pacific system - out at 55. The worst part about this whole thing is that these senior folks refuse to believe it and accept it that they're not quite as healthy and able as they once were.
How often do you see old drivers who have no business being on the road? Same thing... they'll get defensive, pissed, and tell you they are better qualified and safer driver than you. Yet, here are some results:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06302/733286-58.stm
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20061021-9999-1n21crash.html
http://www.ergoweb.com/news/detail.cfm?id=403
Like I said earlier, most ICAO countries do not have a glut of pilots on their market. As such, they have to keep their economy moving, and increasing the mandatory retirement age to 65 might be an acceptable risk to them. They also acknowledge it's a risk because they require the other pilot to be under 60.
In the U.S., we don't have that problem. We have an abundance of young, qualified pilots to keep up with the demand. We have a supply overabundance of pilots. As such, raising the retirement age to 65 is nothing but an unnecessary risk-taking.
You pro-change folks are fighting the wrong battle. Your battle should be pension reform, not raising the mandatory retirement age.