744ButtonPusher

you keep saying this but it does take away the opportunity that some of those who don’t want to work until they die would have had to be in those higher paying WB capt years so they don’t have to.

someone who PLANNED to retire (based on planned progression due to mandatory retirements) may not able to because some selfish pricks who failed to plan want an extra bite at the Apple.

rickair7777

Sort of. For their own domestic airlines, nations can set whatever age limit they like, or none at all.

In order to fly internationally, under ICAO rules, they need to comply with ICAO standards... and they ALSO need to allow ICAO-compliant airlines to operate in their own territory.

So if ICAO makes the change, everyone will be able to do it, and they will also have to allow everyone else to do it. They can still limit their own pilots to a lower age if they want to. IIRC a few countries still have an age limit below 65, but they have to allow us to fly there. Of course nobody "has" to subscribe to ICAO, but the vast majority do, even N. Korea.

The ICAO model is important, because it applies to countless other regulatory aspects, pilot age is just one of many. It allows reciprocal access, without having to comply with every nation's specific regulatory details. Instead it provides a regulatory baseline, which everybody can agree to. Or not, if they don't want any part of it.

You can also have specific bilateral agreements between nations, "side letters" if you will. Hypothetically, two countries could agree to a common age limit which differed from ICAO's, or something like allowing a common language, such as two Spanish-speaking countries allowing the use of Spanish on their mutual international ops. The vast majority of bilats address air service access rights, ie degrees of freedom and not so much operational regs. Most folks just stick with ICAO.

hummingbear

New pilot base?

Oly2016

Actually when I got hired on..... I didn't expect hundreds of continental pilots to go ahead of me on the list, but thats water under the bridge, on the other side of the ledger. (Yes we are a better airline for it) 5000 pilots in 4 years? Doesn't matter to me one bit. The longer you are here the more you will realize the only numbers that matter are the ones ahead of you. I'm on the home stretch. I stopped looking backwards years ago.

Race Bannon

4 1/2 years ago(prior to Covid), the seniority list was about 12K. It is now about 16.5k Did they hire those pilots for job expansion that is not needed? Are we that over manned? More jobs(maybe even in your BES) is good for the majority of people. If the number of pilots that stay past 65 is greater than 50%, then it could be argued that it was beneficial to the majority. A slight degradation in your "lack of progression" in your homestretch is almost insignificant over the course of a typical career(especially after taxes)

The point is, some things go your way(count your blessings) some don't. But to only look at it from your point of view, "I got screwed", is a bit myopic and unbalanced. When you use "perfect utopia" as the fulcrum of the scale, one will inevitable be disappointed.

JackReacher

I always love how some people use derogatory terms for someone they say “failed to plan”. Glad to hear your career is going exactly how you expected it to go. Can someone “plan” on being stuck at the regionals during the lost decade??? What about 9/11?? What about furloughs??? How about all the Covid buffoonery?? If someone thinks they can plan for every possible contingency is naive at best and more likely a moron. Someone in their 30s doesn’t know what life will hand them later on in life, and cannot possibly fathom where they will actually be in their 60s. If someone can pass the medical at 65, and wants to work an extra year or two, so be it. BTW, I’m still leaving here at 65 (or earlier) because I have been fortunate. Others may not be so lucky. And if you don’t think luck and timing have a lot to do with this profession, then you need to brush up on your history.

T333

have you seen the price of health care for those who retire "early?"

yesto67

An excellent post. Thank you.

ReadOnly7

Worth saying that I might have “planned” to retire at 65….but when faced with a choice to bank another million doing the easiest job ever….yeah, plans just changed.

Grumble

Kind of hard when you keep moving the goal posts. Funny how those that have been in the left seat of a WB for 20 years, that already got another 5 years are now somehow so altruistic.

According to the survey results, those in favor of raising the age are against retroactivity. Bunch of greedy f’in hypocrites.

I’ve written every member of the senate transportation committee and told them when they hear this argument, the truth is they want to perpetuate one of the causes of the pilot shortage in the first place.