Comments on: Dignified and Old

By: Keith Walker

Keith Walker — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 21:37:05 +0000

I am 94 and live in retirement home and despite some major illnesses am still in good health.
There are many people here 80 and 90 and some to 100. This just shows the tremendous improvement in our health, the great advance in medical care and. Life.
SO from 65 to 67 NO PROBLEM

By: Wayne Baker

Wayne Baker — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 23:43:01 +0000

I know there needs to be a cutoff age, and although we each reach that point when it’s time to hang it up at a different age, it’s not possible to regulate it on a case by case basis. We can’t leave it to AME’s to make that decision for everyone. I was originally against raising the age to 65, (I actually took an early retirement at age 56 due to family circumstances) but as I got older, I felt that I would have been fine had I chosen to stay in the cockpit a few more years. Then, about the time I turned 67, I started falling apart physically. First, an eye stroke that left me blind in my right eye. Then I had to have a heart valve replaced. And most recently, complete reconstruction of my left shoulder. If I was a horse, they would euthanize me. I have no business in a cockpit now. In my case it’s obvious, although the eye stroke was a quick event. I was fine, sitting at home watching tv. Dosed off and woke up blind in one eye thirty minutes later. So glad it didn’t happen while I was flying.

By: M.B. Higgins

M.B. Higgins — Sun, 03 Mar 2024 23:19:35 +0000

Supply and demand. When I began flying I made $6,000./year and thought I’d hit the jackpot.

By: Don Beyer

Don Beyer — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 21:25:09 +0000

Patrick loves to fly and it shows.

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 21:54:18 +0000

Hilary Olson — thanks for the info. I agree money alone shouldn’t be the only reason for a job as should have some interest in the work. I’ve been interested in flying before (took a few lessons at 20 years old) but as trying to be financially prudent hard to pick up a hobby that costs $100- 200 / hour each time you go out. Plus the safety issue as doctors have a reputation for being arrogant and with too much money to burn — the beechcraft bonzanza was called the doctor killer.

I’ll research it more, but if could fly part time until 60 or 65 might be a fun encore career even if not as lucrative as someone who starts early enough to make it to the majors.

I always got the impression from Patrick’s columns from years ago that trying to make it as a pilot was like trying to break into music, only worth doing if you loved it so much you were willing to sacrifice everything else in life to that goal. Perhaps with the change in the market things aren’t as bad.

By: Hilary Olson

Hilary Olson — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 16:14:41 +0000

As a professional I have never persued a job because of the money even when for many years I was the breadwinner. I retired from it when I was ready and it didn’t give the same satisfaction. I wasn’t forced to retire because I reached a certain age or lost a medical endorsement. That all said IMHO I despise the thought that an individual is entering a career because it’s well paid and not for the love of being an aviator, nor do look in a kindly light if you still hold a first class medical ,passing all your check rides (a very humbling experience) then being forced to retire . Aviation always has had several ways you can become a commercially rated pilot. Doing it the hard way where you get so much experience which in the past was preferred. Nowadays if you are a good pc gamer and know some pc programming you are a good candidate. My take, there are some great pilots out there who keep their aircraft in a barn. I didn’t answer your question directly but it’s in there .

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 20:47:19 +0000

Is pilot pay so good that it’s worth doing as a now as a career change for other professions? Seems like as of now the pay is comparable to software and lower paid physicians? I’m making $250k in medicine working 17 days or so a month doing shift work at 47. Now with older kids I have a bunch of free time when they are in school (like today so hanging out at a coffee shop). Don’t necessarily want to pick up more clinical shifts as I’ve been doing it for 20 years but wouldn’t mind learning something new. If part time aviation shifts are a good option wouldn’t mind trying. I figured from reading ask the pilot before aviation was a labor of love where you have to put in a decade of poverty wages before getting a shot. If that’s no longer the case perhaps I should check out. What do you think?

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 01:02:05 +0000

And in the meantime you can be president of the USA at 80.

By: Evan

Evan — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 19:55:41 +0000

Agreed, fellow Gen Xr. There was a missed opportunity though….this is and should be framed as age discrimination, not so much as a cure for a perceived pilot shortage. One of my friends turns 65 next month. Today he holds a first class medical and has passed all his line checks and simulator sessions. How then does a birthday make him no longer qualified to be an airline captain?

By: Bart

Bart — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 18:58:01 +0000

Sad pilots shall not be able to push mandatory retirement by 2 years. A compromise could have been achieved with a stringent annual, with no appeals, medical exam and cognitive testing. Perhaps as partial personal out-of-pocket expense to the individual pilot. I have no ties to aviation. However experienced as airplane passenger since my first flight on a Connie in 1957. Sadly I predict this age related policy decision is a harbinger of future young against boomer things to come.