Wed, 30 Jan '08
Provision Bars Retired Pilots From Returning With Seniority
got around to addressing the plight of healthy, qualified pilots being forced to retire at age 65, the so-called Fair Treatment for Experienced Pilots Act made it past both Houses and President Bush in just three days. Now, 3,000 older pilots who are still without jobs say the word "fair" has no place in the name of the law.
In a concession to the Air Line Pilots Association, the law was drafted to discourage pilots already forced to retire, but not yet 65, from returning to the airline workforce. While it did not prohibit airlines from hiring them back, it stipulated that they would have to return stripped of their seniority.
Given the drastic cut in wages that would result, and the drop to the bottom of schedule, route and vacation bidding, that made the proposition a non-starter for pilots who in some cases had spent decades working their way to the top of their profession.
Jim Hathcoat of Olathe was forced out of his job at Frontier Airlines.
He commented on the inconsistency between US and international rules as his forced retirement grew near.
"International pilots up to age 65 could fly through US space, but we couldn’t," Hathcoat said. "That didn’t make sense."
Hathcoat notes the result of the Fair Treatment for Experienced Pilots Act has been to force hardship on many of the people it was supposed to help. He tells the Star, "We can’t get our old jobs back, can’t draw reduced Social Security benefits for another three years or full benefits until 66. Now, how crazy is that?"
SOURCE: aeronews.net
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