You think it is right for the airlines to have an upper cut-off age of 35 Yrs?

[wingstwo]

Just looking to invite some thoughts on this subject. Is it right on part of the Airlines to have an upper age limit of 35 yrs for hiring rookie pilots? Without even inviting them for any kind of assessment? Are we putting age limits on what an individual can or cannot do now? Limiting life? Is there a statistical study or a scientific research that says that one shouldn't be hiring a rookie pilot who is above 35 due 'X' reasons? Maybe there is, and I am not aware of the same.

The way I see it, a person who still has at least 20 years of active flying left, should be equally useful to any airline as a less than 35 yr old with maybe a 5 or a 10 yr bond. My view. Open to other views.

[coral_bay]

I should say that is a good question. But decisions like these are made by the HR taking the working environment into consideration and it is not just applicable to airlines and pilots but all organizations hiring fresh talent as FRESHERS. What the company requires is how best a person, if selected, can adjust to the working environment and how enthusiastic is he to learn more to contribute to the growth of his career and also to the organization. And a fresher at that age would definitely not feel comfortable working under more experienced people who might be much younger to him. And also it is the experience which counts more than age and hence people who have more than 1000hrs on any aircraft and probably a TR are allowed to apply till 40 yrs of age. Reason being they are experienced and would not feel so incompetent to work in a dynamic environment.

[wingstwo]

Thanks for your response. Appreciate it.


However, what if the person started flying at the age of 34, had a successful career prior to that, quit it because he wanted to fly, and all his flying instructors were less than 24 yrs and all his contemporaries less than 22 yrs and he was fine with it and he learnt flying along with them as one of them, and none the wiser, and he was aware and willing of all that before taking the decision of flying? He respected them as they were 'older' in that skill/art/profession for they knew more about flying than him/her as he/she was just starting flying. It was a pleasure to fly with them.

And by the time he ended up being able to convert his license through this Indian DGCA 'system/process', he crossed 35?

Feel free, views welcome. The more the better.

[coral_bay]

I should say the scenario you just illustrated here matches with one of my friend. He was told he could not apply just because he was one week older than the age limit. Sad but true.

But if at all such a situation arises, then probably he/she must think of trying to find a job as an instructor or with some private charters where a one to one interaction with the HR happens even before you apply and I am sure they would if they were really that passionate about flying to quit the earlier job. Final aim should be to fly and earn decent enough while you gain hours to make yourselves suitable to apply in airlines.

[aryansat13]

IT'S true I also in same position now at 30 and going for Cpl I don t know this rule will hamper my situation too for getting an right seat in an airline ... I would suggest you better get into instructing or try for charters to build some hours and then you can try to get a type rating after you build some hours or look for the back door entry which is more easier in India if you show the money ..

[pilotbaba]

These are corporate decisions made by executives who decided what they will make as the minimums as to age, experience etc etc......

All of these decisions are based on what year it is & what is the need of the airlines plus the supply & demand equation......

I have personally seen three upcycles where people were hired with a plain CPL & not even a multi & I am now seeing people with type ratings sitting jobless.....

Another fact is that Airlines in India TODAY are heavily relying on Expat Pilots, the availabillity of the Expats will also reduce in large numbers in the coming times:
1) A lot of them are on Furlow from AA United & Delta etc etc & getting recalled in their own home airlines. So, when the pilots have a good Job in their home country, they are less likely to go fly in a foreign land.
2) Airlines like Emirates, Qatar & Singapore are poaching heavily on experienced captains & offering more money than the Indian companies.

So, when the NEED CHANGES, REQUIREMENTS will change as well.......

Pls take my opinion with a grain of salt, for FWIW ( for whatever it's worth)

[DiamondC]

And a fresher at that age would definitely not feel comfortable working under more experienced people who might be much younger to him.

An assumption, and not a very accurate one. Look around most companies and you will see people older than their manager. I've worked for people younger than me and it has worked fine. Equally, I've had managers who were older and were a nightmare. I have seen plenty of examples of conflicts between staff and managers and I can't think of any that were due to age.

[coral_bay]

What I said was not based on assumption nor a generalization.

I have seen people at the age of 30-32 being recruited in 2006 when there was a huge demand for professionals in IT industry and there was practically no contribution from them to the team. Reason being they were not socially comfortable working with younger people who were all just passed out college grads aged around 22-23.

Eventually they quit after 6 months and joined other companies adding fake experience.

Again let me say this is what I have seen happening when I was working as a fresher. Things might not be the same every where with everyone. Some might be motivated and stick to their job.

[B737NG]

It is soley to, mostly a Non-Aviator, Administrator who decides the cut off age. In some cases I would agree to hire Younger people then older ones.

Following scenarios: I have a Airline, stable and strict to SOP´s, then I rather take the Young Person, not expirienced, We tell him what proceedures to follow and how we want to have things done in our Airline. A Pilot who flew tonns of hours somewhere else has to adopt to new SOP´s, sometime the other way around then is his former outfit. He has to "delete" old habbits, maybe some of them he likes more as the new ones.

I have a Airline that is fast growing, diffrent types, people come and go. I need a safetynet of expirienced people. I would hurt myself if I set the age limit too low as usualy expirience comes with age.

Another problem is the Market situation. Yesterday I talked to a job seeker and I had to laugh loudly as he explained me that the company he applied the last told him they do not hire DEC´s as a policy if they haven´t been a Captain before. in other words: First Officer who wait too long for upgrade in the present company cannot shortcut the carreer and move from outside right seat to inside left seat, why? Because they have enough application from qualified people. One of my former Managers told me that in the moment the Metall is parked the requirement changes. Sad but true, sometimes people have to apply in the right moment to get a carreer boost, if you come too early you are trapped, if you come too late the good slots are gone.

Now back to the age again: Military Pilots, leaving mostly above 35 the post they had, now if the Operator has enough of them then the age 35 is a reason for a "bar" installed to prevent them from applying. Again: park the shiny Aluminium on the Tarmac and the "bar" moves to open the gates and applications are flushing in again.

If someone is a job seeker it is also cost incentive to keep track of all the requirements in detail. Fill out 5 application forms from 5 diffrent companies and you find total diffrent demands, one wants Words documents only the next one PDF Files are accepted only and the next one has a online feature available but too complex for a outsider. Some HR people want to know almost all of you, the only thing missing was the size of your underpants -.- others, I prefer those who have all information for application on 2 or 3 pages only.

Loyalty was once a high value in our Industry but that went down the drain a few years ago, so asking for a Younger joining date does not guaranty you a life long position. We are having "interesting times"... Quo vadis Aviation in 5 to 10 years from now ?

Fly safe and land happy

NG

[wingstwo]

Well, I agree with most of what has been said by everyone who has responded. Each of that has a grain of truth and reality in it. At the same time, I also like to propagate the thought that anything is possible, and we should not be limiting it by factors such as age and other things as that, and rather allow the said merit to be proved. That said, market and human realities remain.

Bottom line, I would still encourage a guy/person to fly if he/she wants to do it and is convinced and believes in it. The rest probably would take care of itself.

But keep it coming. Divergent views are always healthy. Leaves one with a possible new perspective.

[wingstwo]

Turning out to be quite a brief discussion. :). Hmmm! Expected, I guess. My thanks to the people who responded. Saving it for another life.:).