Uplink, the active Delta pilots voted to get rid of their pensions. This was a dumb idea but pilots being pilots they also screwed the retirees as they lost their pension and their medical.
I find it hard to believe that a retiree is only making $1,200 a month. It probably is more along the lines of $4,000 a month. Criminal for sure but it's not like he is starving unless he made some bad life choices, like joining Emirates for example.
Harry is probably one of the very few pilots who would rather slave for EK than work for a respectable Airline. There still are some Airlines worth having a career with. Emirates is not one of them, not by a long shot.