Originally Posted by
DuctOvht
That is a compromise, but it doesn’t go far enough for me.
As I said, we all signed up to retire at 65. I’d sincerely like to retire before that if I can. For that to happen, my career needs to pan out the way I expected it to when I signed on the dotted line. I know there are pension issues in a number of airlines at the moment, but that is another debate.
Stopping at 65 can’t happen if the goalposts move mid-game and people who signed up to go at 65 force a change in the rules that mean they can carry on until they drop. By doing so they’re effectively forcing the rest of us to work longer than we wish, because we won’t be getting the pensions we’ve planned for at 65.
The compromise is that should anyone wish to carry on beyond the age of 65 they can do so as FOs, on FOs money, at the bottom of the seniority list. That is the only fair way for this to work.
My thoughts exactly.
I see two distinct demographics, at a Legacy carrier anyway. Those who joined in the 70's/80's at a relatively young age, enjoyed a quick Command due to expansion combined with a longer than expected career as the Retirement age slowly stepped up to 65.
Then you have those on the other side of the curve, joined in the late 90's/2000's and have had rather stagnated careers. Firstly, many were hired into the Legacy carriers at an older age than the generation before them, missed most of the expansion so had to wait longer for promotion, yet had those promotions delayed even more as the retirement age crept up. Almost a generation of career FO's.
We all knew from the beginning that we'd eventually be forced to retire in this job. For those approaching 65, be thankful you've had an extra 5-10 years.
At the risk of poking the bear, Boomers and early Gen X's have had the best opportunities to set themselves up for retirement, not just Pilots, but overall. I could work until 80 and probably still not be as well off in retirement as some of the Captains I've flown with whose property portfolios alone dwarf my earnings as an FO.