Employment for old ATP fellahs
 

A friend of mine is a former 747 training captain, but more recently flying 757/767s. He has also flown 732s. I gather he retired recently in the States but has told me he is interested to work in Australia.

Not quite sure of his age and I'll update next time I hear from him, but please can anybody advise me the mandatory retirement ages in Australia and NZ ?

Would anybody in the hiring arena be likely to take him on ?

Their is no mandatory retirement age in NZ

Hey thanks for that C100driver. What chances do you think such a senior pilot has getting taken up by Air NZ ?

He's current on 757/767 and has 747 experience

Air NZ, not great for aircraft flying though they do have a large number of experienced non kiwi simulator instructors.

However Jetconnect B733/734 would worth a look, as would Airwork B733C and B732QC. Rishworh would worth a call re PacBlue as well.

The worlds oldest teenager at Airwork is 74 and still at it on the B737.

What the **** do old retired ATP fellas want a job for, especially in another country? OK, their own country won't give them a job, so they become mercenaries and take a job in somebody else's country.

Have they nothing else in their lives to occupy themselves in their twilight years?

They occupy a seat that a young guy could, and should, occupy. They've had their careers and through nothing more than greed want to keep going. There's no sense in being the richest pilot in the graveyard.

I bailed out as soon as I could afford to do so, and I recommend retirement to everybody. Age of retirement is irrelevant; just have a plan to spend your time, and say goodbye to simulator checks, Emg Reval, CRM, hosties, management (especially management), pax, and all the other bull$hit that goes with work. I've never been so busy, and I know it's a cliche, but I don't know how I found time for work.

If he's interested in a ground job in WN, there is a vacancy for a navigation procedure designer at Airways .....

Thanks all. After he advised me of his interest he has gone quiet, perhaps on holiday so I shall pass on when I get the chance. Merry Christmas all.

My mate John is a former C-130 driver and Sqn C/O before he went civy. He's got 737 time so some of the options might rate. It may be that he'd like to retire somewhere other than USA, in which case changing countries at his age requires a job sponsor.

He was 74 two years ago, that makes him 76 now! They do have a F27 job being advertised I see, might be worth a look.

KaptinZZ ,it may not be greed that keeps us old farts going. Some of us do it because we have been screwed out of several fortunes by several wives. Some of us do it because we continue to be screwed out of fortunes by never-do-well kids (bad genes obviously inherited from the ex-wives). Either way, our government won't provide for us in our dotage, so we keep on being self-sufficient for as long as we can.
And some - of which I am one - continue in the industry on the basis of 'use it or lose it', by which I mean using our brains for something a bit more challenging than improving golf handicaps or discovering a better way to bait a fish-hook. We are not hogging any seats to the detriment of any younger wannabes. In case you hadn't noticed, there is an experience shortage right now. The wannabes think they have a right to a command in 18 months. Bollocks - five years is a fair time in any complex apprenticeship, by which time this 'greedy' generation of baby boomers will be mostly gone anyway.
Agreed about all the b.s. with sim checks, management, hosties and the rest of the hassles of line flying. But there's other stuff some of us can contribute, like training, consulting or even (heaven forbid) management, or anything related that our diverse aviation backgrounds may suit us to. And agreed that some old guys lose the ability to keep up with all these checks, back-of-clock duties etc. The trick is to know when your time has come and bow out gracefully.
If you have the money to indulge a rich, busy and fulfilling retirement at a relatively early age, good luck to you. But many early-age retirees appear to be borderline brain-dead after a few years.

".....it may not be greed that keeps us old farts going. Some of us do it because we have been screwed out of several fortunes by several wives."

Damn, beat me to it. Way back before the old queen died, when I was a freshly minted CPL in the UK, earning my very first beer tokens from aviation shipping newspapers in a Twotter, the old bugger in the left seat (who owned the a/c) was all of 80. The only reason I was there at all was in case he fell off the perch.....

But many early-age retirees appear to be borderline brain-dead after a few years.

Well that's not me Gas Chamber.

If you have the money to indulge a rich, busy and fulfilling retirement at a relatively early age, good luck to you.

And that is me.

I'm never bored, too busy in fact. I have numerous interests and am constantly on the go.

Anybody who isn't financially secure by 50-55 in this industry has wasted his opportunities, and that's in spite of greedy ex wives and parasitic kids.

You speak of brain dead, and in the same para, several ex wives. I'll leave it to the readers to decide who is brain dead. One ex I understand, several I have considerable difficulty with I'm afraid.

Skills shortage?? Tell the companies that. I was hearing that when I learnt to fly in the late 60's, but still dont believe it. If they were as desperate as is claimed, salaries would be double what they are. No sir, the skill shortage is no more than a furphy geneerated by flying schools' managements and airline managements (those pricks in management again!) to entice people to shell out big bucks to learn to fly, and ensure they have a stream of young bucks, and now does too, coming through GA for their purposes.

I constantly hear of airlines about to shut down because of a lack ofpilots, but it never happens, and will never happen.

Kaptin ZZ, no need to be so smug about your obvious success. The guys with insufficient money to retire but who have collected a few women along the way may well have had a whole lot more fun in this life. And many that are still flying are still having fun. We are all different. I would never criticize some old guy for wanting to fly a few more years - just so long as he could deliver the goods come check-ride time.

gas chamber, thank you for your significant contribution.

Isn't 'fun' what kids in lower primary school have? I've had a most enjoyable life, and if that is to be judged by numbers of women one has 'conquered', then it's been very enjoyable, but they haven't done me for lots of loot.

Welll, it seems we won't agree on greedy old buggers taking a seat that a younger guy/girl could occupy. 60 is a good maximum age although I went long before that. It wasn't so long ago that it was the compulsory retiring age for pilots; use that as a yardstick and go gracefully.

As for my 'smugness', I was doing no more than replying to a statement by another contributor, similar to what I did to the other statement re brain deadness.