The Skinny on the Age 60 Rule

[banger]

I am in favor of killing the bill in Committee in the House.

... I've got a couple of decades before it's me..., ... I know it's coming. .........I know the rug got yanked hard with pensions....and I think it's a disgusting injustice....., ......Please don't take that out on us... Not our doing..... ....from our hire date or upgrade .... All we want ... Personally, I'm furloughed,.....number one factor to me getting back in the game ..... All my friends are new hires .... I don't think I'm entitled to anything more than a fair chance .....

One of the only consistent things about the airline industry is that individual pilots will always vote for what benefits them and their families the most. Maybe its not the best way to get things done but you can count on it happening that way.

 

[Purpledog]

Cry me an f*ing river. Vote no. If something bad happens to me at 59 I surely won't be crying on here trying to screw my fellow pilots and "pull up the rope, I'm aboard". How about some dignity? Adapt, overcome, etc......

 

[Swaayze]

What airline are working for that has unfair PC's and line checks? I want to be sure that I don't ride on it if that is really the case. Surely you jest.

Uh, sorry....maybe you misunderstood or more likely I wasn't clear enough. Just meant the good ol boy factor letting someone slide wouldn't be helpful. Of course it's not helpful for anyone now, regardless of age, so...nevermind.:erm:

 

[JD2003]

JD, how did management get into your IRA's?

Well yip...I am not a bitter person but I did take a large paycut, My ESOP stock, which was once worth many thousands of dollars, is now worthless and was sold (without my permission) at less than a dollar a share. My pension, albeit meager, is worth a fraction of what it would have been had UAL been managed responsibly.

Perhaps it is an overstatement to say execs will enjoy the fruits of other people's labor but then I read in the news that executives enjoy large bonuses and "secure" stock options while we lose our retirements. I begin to think I am living in a world governed by corporate aristocracy and not democracy. But like a good citizen I will work harder and longer (age 65) so that I can retire comfortably and try to forget the greed that exists in this old world.

 

[Andy]

Uh, sorry....maybe you misunderstood or more likely I wasn't clear enough. Just meant the good ol boy factor letting someone slide wouldn't be helpful. Of course it's not helpful for anyone now, regardless of age, so...nevermind.:erm:

Swaayze, the good 'ol boy thing exists at every airline. Perhaps it's only the recipients of those checkride gifts who are not cognizant of it occurring on EVERY airline's property.

 

[Andy]

I bet your fun to fly with to?

Is this olde English?
It appears that your ability to choose the proper homophone (not to mention poor sentence construction) is deteriorating with age.

 

[sleeves]

Thus everyone still gets the same number of years in the left seat. You will just half to wait a little longer to get there. (is that violin music I hear)....

Just my opinion....

FNG

No, everyone does not get the same amount of time in the left seat, thoes about to retire will get an extra 5 years and thoes on furlough will get 5 more years of that.
It really is about safty though. It seems there is an admitted risk involved because two over 60 guys cannot fly together.

 

[Andy]

If the conditions change, then the everything else if fair game to. If someone get 5 more years by going to 65, you get it to. Thus everyone still gets the same number of years in the left seat. You will just half to wait a little longer to get there. (is that violin music I hear).... Hey, if you want to stop flying at 60, go right ahead. Then your conscience will be clear. That way you and those that feel the same way will feel good about yourselves.

The conditions in the airline industry have not changed.
A career in the airline industry has been unstable since its birth. That has not changed in a post-911 world.
Anyone banking on a pension from their carrier after watching Eastern, Pan Am, Braniff, etc close their doors more than a decade ago is a fool. No airline is bulletproof. Not even today's golden children, Southwest and JetBlue.

 

[Spooky 1]

Is this olde English?
It appears that your ability to choose the proper homophone (not to mention poor sentence construction) is deteriorating with age.

Andy, all insults aside, are you really still furloughed? Seems like a pilot with your quals could find something pretty good (by todays standards), out there somewhere. Since what ever airline you might go back to is a far cry from the one you left it seem that you could equal if not better yourself in another company. None of my business really, just curious.

 

[Andy]

Andy, all insults aside, are you really still furloughed? Seems like a pilot with your quals could find something pretty good (by todays standards), out there somewhere. Since what ever airline you might go back to is a far cry from the one you left it seem that you could equal if not better yourself in another company. None of my business really, just curious.

Still furloughed; expect to be recalled by UAL within the next 6 months.

I saw the handwriting on the wall and walked away from aviation; I haven't flown since late 2003. I chose to work in other areas. I am now days away from getting my own business off the ground; all of the time consuming details have been addressed. I'm dumping $160K of my savings into it as startup capital; I currently have $90K tied up in inventory. If successful, it will easily eclipse any future airline salary. If unsuccessful, I'll just nickname the failed business ex-wife #2.

I'm 45 years old and I can honestly say that I have seen the ravages of time on my body and mind. I eat healthy and spend 5 days a week in the gym. If I can see and feel it, I can only imagine what time does to couch potatoes. I've noticed a steady downhill progression since my mid-30s.
Quite frankly, I can't imagine working 12 hour duty days flying across multiple time zones and landing in marginal conditions when I'm in my 60s. I don't want to do this past my mid-50s.