Welcome back LAMBOURNE, nicely stirring the debate again. I have to confess that I shared some of your attitude to older pilots in the past when I was a 17 year F/O and often had to 'take care' of ageing Captains. Nevertheless, those guys always had the odd pearl of wisdom to share and many of those 'nuggets' have helped me through a multitude of problems in the years since. That was when retirement was compulsory at 55 in my company. We lost many mentally agile and immensely capable pilots then.
There must be some 'gummers' who have ability, personality and the capabililty to match your exacting standards? If they ask you about your day, your interests, if you would like a cup of coffee, do you cut them all dead? They are all fellow passengers on the path through life and your outright rejection of their experience, interest and ability is appalling. I wonder what airline you fly for and to what standards. CRM must be pretty low on the agenda.
All said, I do think it sad if the older guys soldier on, for whatever reason, and do not recognise the deterioration in themselves. I am coming up to 64 and can still cut it with you on any terms, be it a/c handling, cognitive ability, staying awake, or CRM. Personally I would not support a retirement extension to 70 as the physical/mental implications escalate rapidly after 65, for some it's long before that. A cutoff at 65 seems right to me, I love this job but enough will be enough. At the end of the day, I would sooner retire at any age than have the likes of Lambourne to look for age related faults in me and be able to find them.