What sort of deal would it take to have pilots accept a change from 55 to 60?
Legislation.
My argument is we all knew what we were getting into when we joined.
No, you didn't know what was going to happen any more than you know what is going to happen on your next flight. You plan and prepare but the environment has a tendency to change unexpectedly.
The landscape has changed dramatically since the age 60 rule was put in place and health was never a real factor in the decision. And there are NO guarantees and when we got hired, we were just glad to have the job.
It seems we have a tendency to forget how many resume's we sent out trying to get the job and once we have it, we seem to transform into a mentality of entitlement.
Finally, don't expect bold action from any regulatory agency. There is NO upside to saying YES and no downside for saying NO. I doubt if you are going to find any FAA authority who will take on the change because the first crash that occurs with an over-60 geezer in the left seat, the one on the hot seat will be the guy who changed the rule. Who wants to be that guy? And what does that guy attain by changing the rule? Nothing... but a load of potential grief.
And then there is the outright duplicity of the regs.. I can't fly a 737-300 in -121 ops but I can fly a BBJ? Huh? I can't operate an airliner into major airports most often equipped with radar, ILS, ground radar etc but I can operate into airfields without a tower, a non-precision approach and short runways?
It takes only a casual glance at the regs to see how silly the argument of preserving safety is.