HAL
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2001
- Posts
- 733
Now that the dust has settled on the age 65 rule, how about some calm, reality based discussion instead of the overinflated ranting so many here are guilty of?
The rule has passed, and recalling Prater, or trying to vote ALPA off the property, or screaming "The world is ending!" won't accomplish anything. The rule is here; live with it. Now, as for the realities...
1) When you were hired, were you promised a one year upgrade? No? Of course not. But if you were, (and believed it) not only were they lying, but you were guilty of blind stupidity too. Most airlines (and the industry in general) are very cyclical. I'm sure that the people hired at USAirways in 1988 weren't expecting to have been sitting at the bottom of the active seniority list (or on furlough) in 2004, yet that is where they were. That is the brutal truth about our careers - things change. Our job is to safely fly the planes that our employers own. We are on our own for making the job as painless as possible. In my family, aviation careers go back to 1937, and we've seen many, many ups and downs in the business - that's just the way it happens. The idea of a smooth progression without bumps in the road is ridiculous, and with just a few exceptions, it doesn't happen to airline pilots. Furloughs, recessions, accidents, mergers, wars, natural disasters, rule changes, fleet upgrades & downgrades; those are the norm in a pilot's career. If you expect otherwise, you aren't prepared for the job.
2) Should we let it just happen to us? Of course not. But some things are inevetiable, and what looks bad to one person doesn't mean they're bad to everyone. This age 65 rule may slow down your original career progression expectations (as may any of the items listed in the last point), but what's bad now may be a good thing as you get older. Never, and I mean never, relax and expect that your career will go the way you planned. Plan for the worst, and hope for the best. What we can do now is make the best of it; make sure that the airlines don't change the retirement pension/401k plans. Let us go out at 60 with expected benefits if we wish, or let us go further and accrue further benefits. The best way to do that is through the unions; they have the knowledge and power to negotiate better than any single one of us can.
3) Remember what your initial instrument flight instructor told you? "Always have an out." Or put another way - 'Options are good to have'. That is the heart of this discussion. No matter how it impacts you now, having more options is a good thing. Want to retire at 60? Fine. Feel healthy and want to continue another year or five? Go ahead. More choices equals better quality of life. If you were staking your career on one single high-speed progression to the left seat, you are the problem, not the system. You came into the career without "having an out", or without a plan for what happens when things go wrong.
4) If you're in the job strictly for the money - leave! The job will never be what you expect, and we don't want you here. You should be here not only for the money, but for the love of flying, the travel, and the experience. If you don't care about the details of the job and how to do it correctly - if that isn't the top proiority in your mind, you shouldn't be in the cockpit. Yes, the money is important. Yes we deserve everything we earn and then some. Yes, having a 'perfect career' would be great. But do not confuse your expectations with the reality of the job. Your safety, and that of your passengers is first and foremost why you are here.
So in the end, age 65 is reality. You can leave at 60 if you wish, or continue on - it's your choice. If you're complaining about being stuck wherever you are for five years, you're not using your head. Not every single pilot will stick around for that long - your delay will be shorter, and if you wish, you'll have a longer career now - enough to make up the difference you lost now and then some. You should expect delays in your career anyway because that is how the industry works. If you don't you're just fooling yourself, and using up way too much adrenaline and testosterone on something you simply have no control over. Good luck, and please, take the time to enjoy your next flight; look out the window and savor the view. Take pride in being on time. Take quiet satisfaction in making a smooth landing in gusty, rainy, low IFR conditions. Look back, and consider how much effort you have put into getting where you are now, and marvel at how few people get to do what we do on a daily basis. Take a picture of a sunset from the cockpit, frame it, put it on your wall, and always remember that you were the one that was there to see it.
If you feel otherwise, go ahead and post. But I'd ask everyone to keep it calm. Level headed discussion sure beats ranting and raving.
HAL
The rule has passed, and recalling Prater, or trying to vote ALPA off the property, or screaming "The world is ending!" won't accomplish anything. The rule is here; live with it. Now, as for the realities...
1) When you were hired, were you promised a one year upgrade? No? Of course not. But if you were, (and believed it) not only were they lying, but you were guilty of blind stupidity too. Most airlines (and the industry in general) are very cyclical. I'm sure that the people hired at USAirways in 1988 weren't expecting to have been sitting at the bottom of the active seniority list (or on furlough) in 2004, yet that is where they were. That is the brutal truth about our careers - things change. Our job is to safely fly the planes that our employers own. We are on our own for making the job as painless as possible. In my family, aviation careers go back to 1937, and we've seen many, many ups and downs in the business - that's just the way it happens. The idea of a smooth progression without bumps in the road is ridiculous, and with just a few exceptions, it doesn't happen to airline pilots. Furloughs, recessions, accidents, mergers, wars, natural disasters, rule changes, fleet upgrades & downgrades; those are the norm in a pilot's career. If you expect otherwise, you aren't prepared for the job.
2) Should we let it just happen to us? Of course not. But some things are inevetiable, and what looks bad to one person doesn't mean they're bad to everyone. This age 65 rule may slow down your original career progression expectations (as may any of the items listed in the last point), but what's bad now may be a good thing as you get older. Never, and I mean never, relax and expect that your career will go the way you planned. Plan for the worst, and hope for the best. What we can do now is make the best of it; make sure that the airlines don't change the retirement pension/401k plans. Let us go out at 60 with expected benefits if we wish, or let us go further and accrue further benefits. The best way to do that is through the unions; they have the knowledge and power to negotiate better than any single one of us can.
3) Remember what your initial instrument flight instructor told you? "Always have an out." Or put another way - 'Options are good to have'. That is the heart of this discussion. No matter how it impacts you now, having more options is a good thing. Want to retire at 60? Fine. Feel healthy and want to continue another year or five? Go ahead. More choices equals better quality of life. If you were staking your career on one single high-speed progression to the left seat, you are the problem, not the system. You came into the career without "having an out", or without a plan for what happens when things go wrong.
4) If you're in the job strictly for the money - leave! The job will never be what you expect, and we don't want you here. You should be here not only for the money, but for the love of flying, the travel, and the experience. If you don't care about the details of the job and how to do it correctly - if that isn't the top proiority in your mind, you shouldn't be in the cockpit. Yes, the money is important. Yes we deserve everything we earn and then some. Yes, having a 'perfect career' would be great. But do not confuse your expectations with the reality of the job. Your safety, and that of your passengers is first and foremost why you are here.
So in the end, age 65 is reality. You can leave at 60 if you wish, or continue on - it's your choice. If you're complaining about being stuck wherever you are for five years, you're not using your head. Not every single pilot will stick around for that long - your delay will be shorter, and if you wish, you'll have a longer career now - enough to make up the difference you lost now and then some. You should expect delays in your career anyway because that is how the industry works. If you don't you're just fooling yourself, and using up way too much adrenaline and testosterone on something you simply have no control over. Good luck, and please, take the time to enjoy your next flight; look out the window and savor the view. Take pride in being on time. Take quiet satisfaction in making a smooth landing in gusty, rainy, low IFR conditions. Look back, and consider how much effort you have put into getting where you are now, and marvel at how few people get to do what we do on a daily basis. Take a picture of a sunset from the cockpit, frame it, put it on your wall, and always remember that you were the one that was there to see it.
If you feel otherwise, go ahead and post. But I'd ask everyone to keep it calm. Level headed discussion sure beats ranting and raving.
HAL
