Age 70 for international pilots?
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No big deal
Hey, if you're 80, experienced, fit, competent and 'drug-free', why not continue flying professionally. I would rather fly with a physically and mentally fit 80 year old than a 25 y/o recreational drug user any day.
Retirement age should always be the 'workers' prerogative
Keep medical standards high and age then, would not be an issue
Retirement age should always be the 'workers' prerogative
Keep medical standards high and age then, would not be an issue
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As I've mentioned before on this forum we have over 65 and a few 70 year old F/O's a couple of whom are not faring too well but hang in there anyway for some unknown reason.
They don't go back to another type to stay in the left seat because they'll fail the type rating.
If the grey matter between their ears is decayed enough to prevent them doing a type rating it probably means that the 'experience' that's always mentioned has probably decayed as well.
I've got personal experience of this decay, they should give it a miss.
I'd cringe to the nth degree if what is said about these guys was said about me.
They don't go back to another type to stay in the left seat because they'll fail the type rating.
If the grey matter between their ears is decayed enough to prevent them doing a type rating it probably means that the 'experience' that's always mentioned has probably decayed as well.
I've got personal experience of this decay, they should give it a miss.
I'd cringe to the nth degree if what is said about these guys was said about me.
Nemo Me Impune Lacessit
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As I've mentioned before on this forum we have over 65 and a few 70 year old F/O's
ManaAdaSystem:
"We have had an age limit of 60, and it served us well".
B*llox.
I personally flew very productively until my 65th birthday and I enjoyed every minute of it.
My company simply kept me out of French airspace.
You are probably too young to remember it but the retirement age was 65 when I started my flying career.
"We have had an age limit of 60, and it served us well".
B*llox.
I personally flew very productively until my 65th birthday and I enjoyed every minute of it.
My company simply kept me out of French airspace.
You are probably too young to remember it but the retirement age was 65 when I started my flying career.
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I'm a 25 year old unemployed commercial pilot. I don't blame the older Pilots for the lack of jobs, but a failed economic system worldwide. With that being said, I do think that some, not all older pilots tend to cling on well past the "right time" to give it up. And if you put yourself in their shoes, you would probably do the same. Retirement should be brought on by a lack of medical aptitude. However, with all of this talk of experience, How did these "old" pilots get their experience? Probably by being in the right seat. An opportunity I have yet to have. So, for the sake of the next generation of pilots and in a way, for the future of aviation, a reasonable mandatory retirement age (65 or less) should be in effect. Giving pilots an extra 5 years of work whilst allowing younger pilots to be fed into the ranks so they can absorb and learn from the out going pilots. So if you older gentleman can pass on some of your experience/knowledge to younger f/o's and retire in time to actually enjoy retirement. I would appreciate it!
CptnJoao
Nicely put. The only way to get experience is by experience.
I was promoted to command after 16 years, and shortly afterwards noticed that one of my old (!! relatively of course ) Captains had just retired at the then Company compulsory age of 55, and wrote to wish him well and added my thanks for all the tips and hints that he had passed on to me during the many flights I had experienced with him over the years.
I got an almost emotional reply to the effect that he valued my letter far more than the Politically Correct ( tho' the term hadn't been invented then ) bullsh*t and sentimentality from the Management. ( he should be so lucky, I never even got that ! I sometimes wonder if 'they' even realise that I've gone, 'cept of course 'they've' stopped paying me ! )
Best of luck, it's the best job in the World. ( tho' if I were still flying I'd probably be in jail now, courtest of the US TSA, there's no way I could keep my mouth shut and put up with the cr*p you all have to endure everyday, just to do your job, once a year on holiday is hard enough to take )
Nicely put. The only way to get experience is by experience.
I was promoted to command after 16 years, and shortly afterwards noticed that one of my old (!! relatively of course ) Captains had just retired at the then Company compulsory age of 55, and wrote to wish him well and added my thanks for all the tips and hints that he had passed on to me during the many flights I had experienced with him over the years.
I got an almost emotional reply to the effect that he valued my letter far more than the Politically Correct ( tho' the term hadn't been invented then ) bullsh*t and sentimentality from the Management. ( he should be so lucky, I never even got that ! I sometimes wonder if 'they' even realise that I've gone, 'cept of course 'they've' stopped paying me ! )
Best of luck, it's the best job in the World. ( tho' if I were still flying I'd probably be in jail now, courtest of the US TSA, there's no way I could keep my mouth shut and put up with the cr*p you all have to endure everyday, just to do your job, once a year on holiday is hard enough to take )
The funny thing with the pilot community---that regardless of age---to the casual observer; it might appear---that every one is just transitioning from the DC6 to the 707 despite the fact that planes have gotten so easy....missing radio calls, stalls, landing on taxiways, structural failures,....right back to the classics regardless of age
Last edited by Pugilistic Animus; 16th Sep 2010 at 01:47.
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band of brothers
Good post cptn joao i flew A320`s until 65, and even though i was mentally still agile, at that age certain things become very difficult if not impossible for example climbing into an emer raft (mind you there are lots of F/O`s in the same "boat") this topic is like politics both sides opinions will never change but youngsters who spout crap about medicals and safety, when thier real reason is they just want quicker promotion, are a disgrace to "flying" there was a day when ALL pilots were a "band of brothers" and willing to go to any lenghts to help each other.
ask yourself--when have i ever heard of a older pilot dying at the controls
and even more important "will i as F/O be able to handle it if its a dark and stormy night"
this topic is like politics both sides opinions will never change but youngsters who spout crap about medicals and safety, when thier real reason is they just want quicker promotion, are a disgrace to "flying" there was a day when ALL pilots were a "band of brothers" and willing to go to any lenghts to help each other
About every 3 weeks or so there is a picture in the newspaper of a car in a swimming pool or inside a 7/11 store usually driven by a senior citizen who just got the pedals wrong that day. None seem to be the result of sudden incapacitation. I bet if you asked each one of these drivers a few minutes before their mishaps if they have any problems with age and driving, they'd probably tell you to #$% off, and that they are ok to drive.
Personally, the effects of fatigue on senior pilots is a greater threat than sudden incapacitation.
Nemo Me Impune Lacessit
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About every 3 weeks or so there is a picture in the newspaper of a car in a swimming pool or inside a 7/11 store usually driven by a senior citizen who just got the pedals wrong that day. None seem to be the result of sudden incapacitation. I bet if you asked each one of these drivers a few minutes before their mishaps if they have any problems with age and driving, they'd probably tell you to #$% off, and that they are ok to drive.
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Just completed a jungle tour with a 62 year old gummer. F-ing exhausting. At no point in his two turns at bat did he attempt to flare the airplane. Speculating that if he was an MD11 pilot, he and others would be dead.
In addition to the poor flying skills he could not understand any of the atc calls. He would miss a call, I would say," that was for us", he looks at me like I'm from mars, I repeat about the same time atc is calling again, he misses again because he still hasn't comprehended what I said to him. I answer Atc, read back and he finally gives me the look a baby has when it has pooped it's pants, but doesn't fully understand repercussions. A mindless, "thanks, don't know why I am having trouble understanding them....". Really? No idea? Could it be that you are too fricking old to still be working?
The guy was so slow I left him at the airport twice and took my own transport to hotel. Tired of waiting 15 minutes at the curb as he tried to find his way out of the terminal. It is as if he is going through life with one turn singnal flashing.
A real role model this clown is. What a disgrace to aviation and mankind. Hope he settles down for the dirt nap sooner rather than later.
In addition to the poor flying skills he could not understand any of the atc calls. He would miss a call, I would say," that was for us", he looks at me like I'm from mars, I repeat about the same time atc is calling again, he misses again because he still hasn't comprehended what I said to him. I answer Atc, read back and he finally gives me the look a baby has when it has pooped it's pants, but doesn't fully understand repercussions. A mindless, "thanks, don't know why I am having trouble understanding them....". Really? No idea? Could it be that you are too fricking old to still be working?
The guy was so slow I left him at the airport twice and took my own transport to hotel. Tired of waiting 15 minutes at the curb as he tried to find his way out of the terminal. It is as if he is going through life with one turn singnal flashing.
A real role model this clown is. What a disgrace to aviation and mankind. Hope he settles down for the dirt nap sooner rather than later.
!!!!! Goodbye, Cruel World ( 76 tomorrow ! )
ExSp33db1rd... Did you make it?
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So what's the argument here? Putting 200 hr abinitio pilots in the cockpit is safer then senior citizens?
The only people fighting older pilots in the cockpits are the kids that want a vacant seat to fly.....that's it......
The only people fighting older pilots in the cockpits are the kids that want a vacant seat to fly.....that's it......