NewBS:
Well-spoken. We could be sort of like the AMA for doctors or the ABA for attorneys.
Until one experiences a merger, whereby the resulting corporate entity is a
totally new entity, one might believe that we have a national union. Many pilot groups are totally self-centered. One group of senior pilots last week filed a lawsuit to challenge some adjustments in very small pension targeting. The younger, very junior pilots-many of whom just came back from 4-5 years furlough (I fly with many)-have no pension right now. None.
As for solidarity, let's nor forget Delta after Eastern went under. Were more than three Eastern pilots hired by Delta? I can name about eight or more at my company with whom I've flown or trained.
As for age limits, it is doubtful that the age limit would have been raised, if pilot salaries at several US majors had not been slashed by 30-38%.
The second factor concerns many senior pilots, who lost up to 60 or 80 % or their pensions due to severe under-funding over many years by Upper Mgmts, allowed by various US regulations.
Even if pilots can work 3-5 extra years (before they lose their medical certification etc), this will not begin to really compensate for the pillaging of this industry by various forces, stated below.
The clever, ruthless tactic of some US airlines to terminate pension plans has inspired other US industries to do the same, which created much more pressure on the quasi-private PBGC to wonder how it can help fund the smaller lost pensions. An airline pilot might receive about $28,000-$45,000 per year from the PBGC. Nice retirement you wonder, after 30 years of loyal service, training and focus on safety/pax comfort?
The pressure to destroy the US airline pilot profession comes from a few or all of these angles: Wall Street hedge-fund managers, some airline CEOs
(often paid tens of millions of dollars in cash and stock bonuses-AFTER atrocious 30-38% pay cuts demanded from labor), airline Board Members, various powerful anti-labor factions within the GOP (let's be frank here) executive, legislative and judicial branches and other departments (i.e. DOT) of the US govt, or the fact that US labor laws allow that when large numbers of jets/routes are switched to another carrier, that the currently qualified pilots are NOT sent with the jets/routes.
Will continuous flying of long-haul widebody trips (i.e. if already performed since age 53) over numerous years allow most of those pilots to retain their First Class medicals until age 65, if they exercize and eat healthy food, compared to narrow-body pilots?