Time to command = 1/2 time to retirement?
I have been thinking about posting this for a while and would be interested to hear the thoughts of others.
In an airline with two-crew aircraft where pilots rarely leave except due to ill-health or retirement (ie. legacy carriers), I would have thought that one could expect to spend approximately half of one's career in the right seat and half in the left. I know that sort of closed system is virtually impossible in the real world but I'm sure some airlines come fairly close. The reason I am posting is that I often hear of pilots commenting about how long it is taking to get a command and in most cases the wait has been roughly half the number of years they have left to retirement (or even fewer). Basic maths would suggest to me that one cannot expect twelve years as an FO and twenty-five as a captain.
What do people think?