I note with frustration the continuing discrimination against aircrew over a certain age by the UK's regulator and employers in the European Union. Age discrimination has been illegal in many parts of the developed world for many years yet lingers on within the EU, although it is soon to be outlawed.
Those without the buttress of a final salary pension scheme to rely on need to carry on working. New recruits to the world of aviation are becoming harder to attract: being an airline pilot long stopped being the preferred choice of the younger generation. Much hard-won experience is being lost.
Mandatory retirement ages should be scrapped in return for more-stringent medical checks. If aircrew are capable of passing their medical checks and base checks, then retirement should be their choice and not one imposed on them. Either that or the state pension should be improved.
Timothy Oates Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK
Source: Flight International
