Realistically? I would say it depends on the job market when it comes to retirement. If someone was applying NOW at that stage, prospects may be slim. As an older applicant myself (but not yet 51
) I would advise you to think what about you're prepared to sacrifice to obtain your fATPL. Financial security is a huge part of the problem, so if that's sorted, then it may be worth a punt. I've talked to a few guys within the regionals (Eastern, bmi, Titan etc) and tsome do seem to look favourably on the 2nd-career types, so who knows.
HW