Originally Posted by sapco2
I have flown with a 62 year old f/o on several occasions recently - in my opinion the guy should definitely be back in the left hand seat; he is one of the most pleasant and switched on pilots you could ever hope to fly with. We didn't discuss his reasons for working as a B757 co-pilot but my guess is... "needs must"!
What type of needs? Buying a second Ferrari or being able to feed the family. Needs to be relativised a bit here. I know some ex-BA cpts retired, earning their BIG pension and still flying offshore to increase the benefits!!
Also, older pilots try to think a bit about the consequences this would bear: e.g. talk about this thread to the senior F/O's from thomas cook that have been loyal to the company and waiting for a command for several years (for an opportunity to be given to them-not even talking about the ones having been considered "unsuitable" for a LH seat).
If the decision is suddenly to postpone it for 5 years it means other F/O's might wait another 5 years to be given opportunity for command, and thus for the 200 hr pilot for getting an opprtunity to become F/O on a turbojet/prop. It is the whole chain that is going to become longer. I don' think it is good, definitely not moving it immediately for 5 years! Maybe 1 or 2 yes, no more.
Let's have some reaons coming up in this thread, not sentiments about how getting along with a "young " or "old" fellow or how pleasant (s)he is!!