Posted on 01/25/2007 7:47:42 AM PST by CedarDave
He sat in the right seat, which means the former copilot had to vacate his seat, which means at some point there was a double seat-swap when NOBODY was flying the plane but the autopilot!
Excuse me?? Most of them want to fly past 60 because they don't have a pension anymore! They'll fly til they die -- but not by choice.
You're not excused. Most of the forced-to-retire airline pilots I know personally truly loved being in command of the awesome machinery they flew and their final revenue trip was bittersweet.
With some exceptions, each would have preferred to have put in a "few more years"; they'd mastered the skills the professional pilot required and knew (and still know) the joy and personal reward that comes with that mastery.
Most are financially quite comfortable having diversified into additional investment avenues along the way. Pension loss, for some, has certainly been of impact, but I'd venture that such is the case for any industry segment.
I've yet to hear a retired semi-conductor engineer long to get back behind the microscope or testbench. Likewise, few older stockbrokers pine for the trading pressure-cooker.
I have, however, heard the forced-out 747 pilot say "Yeah, I could go for having four throttles in my hand a few more times."
Most pushing the retirement issue want to fly.
JMO
I agree. Flying is a lifestyle, not a job.
I don't fly for a living any more, and the only professional flying I did was hauling skydivers and towing banners, but if I could reliably make at least minimum wage year round doing it today, I'd trade the big bucks to do it again.
Well of course they do, it's the only way they can get paid! The Delta retirees (the lucky ones in a class action) just settled their pension claims for less that 30 cents on the dollar -- and I mean extremely lucky -- look at the United retirees and what they got, such as Al Haynes (Souix City United pilot). Nothing. (Thanks Al, you saved a lotta lives, now get the hell out of here and by the way we're taking your retirement).
I have no way of knowing or confirming who you know but I can tell you most retirement-age airline pilots are more likely to have two ex-wives than a 'diversified investment avenue'. The ones suffering the indignity of moving to the engineer seat instead of retiring at 60 are not doing it because they want to feel some throttles.
"Most" - kinda vague, have a statistical link?
Look, I fly occasionally with any one of 4 retired Captains; they're all quite comfortable (or appear to be judging by their own planes/homes) and only one has an ex-wife.
I've met with, and talked to, many others.
Given the opportunity to earn the same dollars selling real estate, or flying, I'd bet those 60yo-pilots who have to work would rather be flying.
And then a flight attendant made her way to the luggage compartment to retrieve clean, fresh underwear for the rest of the passengers.
You owe me a 27 inch monitor, rotflmaopimp.
You left off the choice of not working with a fully-funded retirement, as countless numbers of their flying brethren have done since the inception of the age-60 retirement in the 1950's.
If they're working for the same company they could have retired from, then effectively they're working for free for the first xxx number of dollars they would have gotten in retirement. The only real difference is their enhanced medical/insurance coverage (if they have that).
Selling real estate doesn't carry, typically, a fully-funded retirement...
They're flying; my own experience says that, to them, that is what is important.
You seem to I have misunderstood my response.
Anyway I say again, the current push toward age 65 vs. 60 retirement is driven by those in the passenger airline business that lost most or all of their retirements. Their companies went bankrupt, and they were cheated out of what was supposed to be guaranteed to them. If it were just a love of flying they would've had a big push to change the rules much earlier.
From the NYT:
The Federal Aviation Administration will propose allowing airline pilots to fly until they are 65 years old, dropping a 47-year requirement that they retire at 60, the agency's administrator said on Tuesday.
Somehow, I think he earned a LOT more than frequent flyer miles. If they are any kind of company, Mr. Brown will not be paying regular fare for any future flights on their airline, and certainly never in coach class if there is an alternative.
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