chrisreedrules

I think it will go to an “unlimited” age but with extremely stringent medical requirements and restrictions on duty periods and type of flying.

2 reasons it WILL go up eventually:

1) The 1500 hour rule has done a lot for pilots in the short term as far as increasing wages and choking off the supply is concerned. But I personally think that it is arguable that it helped increase safety at all. The 1500 hour rule will be used as a major contributing factor by the RAA and their lobbyists and politicians for the pilot shortage that will really start to be felt in the next couple years. They likely won’t be able to see any relief on the 1500 hour rule so they will push for it elsewhere.

2) The age for retirement has gone up and will continue to go up. When a pilot can’t pull SSI for 5+ years after they “retire” you start to see some pretty large gaps. Guarantee this will be used as an argument in favor of raising the retirement age and senior union pilots at all of the legacies will be on board. Mark my words...

flysooner9

Just cause they raise the age doesn’t mean people want to work till their 70. A major airline pilot at 65 should have way more then enough money to retire.

njd1

Exactly. Plus, while 60-65 and 65-70 may be the same number of years, they are completely different periods with regard to human health and vitality. All sorts of crap starts to go wrong in the human body past 65.

That said, as a mid-lifer I think the idea of mandatory retirements is ridiculous. We replace plenty of parts on an airplane based on condition and the pilot should be one of those components. If I care to work a few extra years beyond 65 and can pass the medical evaluation I believe I should have that option.

FlyyGuyy

Seeing as part 91/135 pilots can keep flying until they die I agree. Flew with a guy who retired from Delta in 1999 at my last 135 job. That was 4 years ago. Crazy. Dude was still sharp.

payingdues

Did he still wear a hat?

FlyyGuyy

Hah, no. No hats at that shop. He was far to relaxed I think though.

We had paper jepps for all of North and South America and the dude would actually help with revisions, nobody else would.

Was a great instructor too, taught me a ton about flying Jets.

Newstick189

On the flip side, I flew with a retired continental 777 captain at my last 135 and he nearly killed me 3 times.

123494

If they raise the age to 67, you'll hear most senior guys say they're out at 65. Some guys even claim they're done before 65, but plenty keep on working. The money these 30 year guys are earning makes it hard not to stay on for couple more years.

PDTFlyer

Lol on the flip side I’ve flown with a few 135 guys that tried making the news a few times.

Newstick189

Fair enough! Lol