Retirement Age and Lifespan

[Benhuntn]

If radiation exposure kills U-2 pilots and astronauts would all be dead by 35.

 

[Huck]

I'll be out of the 1900 right seat in a matter of months, thanks.

O.k., then, great. Now what. What job do you want next?

Pick the next career progression you have in your dreams. Now, close the door on that dream for 5 extra years. But that's o.k., you love flying, right?

Hey man, I love your optimism - this ain't gonna hurt much, and besides, I love my job. That's great. You'd better.....

 

[Occam's Razor]

If radiation exposure kills U-2 pilots and astronauts would all be dead by 35.

Maybe it doesn't kill 'em, but it might make put on diapers and attack Air Force chicks...

 

[foofighter145]

The baby boomer generation was not known for it's health patterns and conscious lifestyle changes toward well being. Most of these dropping after 60 are of the old school thought - drink hard every night, no exercise except 12oz's, bad sleep patterns, and most likely poor lifestyle patterns all round

They've not only managed to screw up their own health but the countries at the same time

I wouldn't worry too much - that'll kill you too

 

[whymeworry?]

If radiation exposure kills U-2 pilots and astronauts would all be dead by 35.

U2 pilots and astros don't fly 18 days per month, genius.

 

[peter185]

U2 pilots and astros don't fly 18 days per month, genius.

And how exactly do you know what the ops tempo of a U2 pilot is?

100% civil and proud of it, give me a break.

 

[Gorilla]

Pressure cycles, and exposure to radiation? If it was that bad, the medical research community would be up in arms, there would be congressional hearings and people would be running from this profession.

Hahahaha! Oh Lord, that is funny. Thanks for the laugh.





Oh wait, you're serious, aren't you?

 

[tyuwerty]

Speaking from experience... Many retired airline pilots do drop dead within 5 years of their retirement date. The reason they die isn't initially poor health, it is depression caused by missing the lifestyle and the job (remember it was a much better job 25 years ago).

1 year after my Father's last flight his health started to fail with stomach and heart problems. The guy had never been seriously sick or in the hospital once his entire life. 18 months after his last flight he was hospitalized because he was not able to keep food or medicine in his stomach.

We were lucky, a Doctor caught the root cause (depression), gave him some meds for it and he got better within a few weeks. That was 10 years ago, I know 3 of his friends that were not as lucky and were dead within 5 years of their last flight.

I can't point to "statistics", but from real life experience, I can say that it does happen to "HEALTHY" pilots from the older generation.

 

[Tejas-Jet]

Believe it or not eating a ribeye steak with all the typical super fatty/salty restaurant side dishes isn't even close to healthy. It's often worse than fast food.

Sure...if you eat it every day. Like my doc says, "Nothing is bad if consumed in moderation."

I eat plenty of salads and low fat stuff. Even on the road.

 

[thepotato232]

Pick the next career progression you have in your dreams. Now, close the door on that dream for 5 extra years. But that's o.k., you love flying, right?

Hey man, I love your optimism - this ain't gonna hurt much, and besides, I love my job. That's great. You'd better.....

I'm not worried about the career progression I have in my dreams, I'm worried about the one I'm really going to have. You know, the one where I work my way up and join "The Best Airline in the World" until they go through furloughs or bankruptcy. That's when they drop me on my ass, and I start over with "Plan B" Airways. Since you're laboring under the assumption that you'll spend your entire "established" career with a single airline, I guess you haven't considered what will happen in the extremely likely event that you're not that lucky. Did you read the middle of my post, where I talked about all of the guys who had that same confidence until they had to start over with a new airline in their forties? Those guys make up the majority of the 59-year-olds you're trying so desperately to remove from your left seat. They're not $300K-a-year senior captains. They never will be, and there's a good chance neither of us will be. You shouldn't spend your career racing to a fictional job.

What are you fighting to protect, anyway? Your five-year delay argument assumes two things: That every pilot who can work to 65 actually will, and that the only reason airlines hire new pilots is due to retirement. Attrition will change at many levels in the airlines, but it won't stop. I won't spent five years flying left seat on the 1900 - I'll probably fly an extra year on the 1900, an extra year at the next job, and so on.

Age 65 will not completely freeze the industry for five years - the feds coudn't do that if they tried. And I would love the chance to spend an extra five years flying, even if I spend more time in the regionals. The fact that the overwhelming majority of the old crowd wants to keep flying should give you pause about what you'll want to do when you're one of them. What terrible things have happened to you in your career that make you so eager for retirement? I'd take a jet over a golf course any day, even in the right seat.