The age 60 rule has been perpetuated by big union politics for too long but now the reality of the situation now must be considered and attitudes must be changed. Wake up people, the world is changing. If you think that future events will bring back retiring at age 60, then you are in for a rude awakening. The economic reality of the future is that most everyone, not just airline pilots, will have to work past age 67 just to survive. This may be the last chance that an obvious wrong can be corrected. True professional airline pilots are fighting for their careers, their future and their ability to earn a living in a chosen profession. Most pilots, like me, only have a 401K. If I were forced to retire at age 60, on my 401K plus a low paying job, I would be living the rest of my life in poverty with no menical coverage until MEDICARE at age 65. At the very least, most of us wish to work to the limits of the DBGC (age 65) and the Social Security fund distribution age.
The rule is age discrimination, pure and simple. If the record shows that more experienced pilots have a better safety record than do younger less experienced pilots (and it does), why should they be treated differently than other Americans?
It is becoming clear that as a result of recent actions by the ALPA and APA, the so-called legacy carriers like United, American, Northwest and Delta they are condemned to the death throws of extinction. Greed, ineptness and blindness to reality will also destroy the likes of the ALPA and APA. The old guard pioneers of the golden age of aviation should be raging mad in their graves at the miss deeds of today’s big union politics.
