posted 10-28-2006 08:10 PM               

quote:

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Robert "Hoot" Gibson was not the happiest camper Friday, despite a party in his honor.

Not only was the longtime astronaut piloting his last commercial airline flight because of a forced retirement, but the flight was five minutes late, to boot.

Gibson, a colorful member of NASA's elite astronaut corps who commanded four of the five space shuttle missions he flew, is ending a 10-year run with Southwest Airlines because he turns 60 on Monday, the mandatory retirement age for pilots in the U.S.

Gibson calls it blatant age discrimination.

"I'm not ready," he said.

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posted 10-29-2006 06:46 AM               

And for mjanovic, Hoot will probably fly until the day he can no longer physically climb into an airplane. He lives to fly. I think he still races airplanes.

posted 10-29-2006 08:55 AM               

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Originally posted by ejectr:
I never heard that!!!

That's incredibly stupid! On a 737 to boot! Who is the rocket scientist at Southwest that made THAT decision?

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That's the way airline seniority works. It is all based upon one's "line number," a seniority number issued when you are hired. Under most circumstances, someone with a higher line number will upgrade to Captain before someone with a lower line number will .. regardless of previous experience level.

It happens all the time that a left-seater will have far less overall experience than his first officer, who may have 20-25 years of military flying before joining an airline.

posted 10-29-2006 03:19 PM               

It is difficult to pass this new law when the pilots themselves, i.e. ALPA, are against it. The public naturally thinks this is a safety issue. It is not.

As Gibson states, there has never been an accident due to the age of a pilot. You have to pass the same physical twice a year regardless of age. Thus, a pilot at age 60 (like Gibson) passing the same physical that he passed 6 months ago (including a mandatory EKG) proves he is in the same health that he was. Also, a Captain must pass a checkride every 6 months. This itself guarantees that mentally and physically he is capable of commanding the aircraft.

So why does ALPA *not* support this proposed ruling? Airline pilots live by "time in service" with the company. Your rank, salary, schedule etc, improve with seniority. By retiring the older more senior pilots, the younger pilots move up in seniority. A desirable thing to be sure.

ALPA, (the pilot union) requires a vote by the pilot membership to create their position on any issue. It is a simple fact that only a small number of pilots are approaching the age of mandatory retirement. The larger number of younger pilots carry the vote and ALPA's official position is to maintain the age 60 mandatory retirement.

How do I know the above? I have been an ALPA member and an airline Captain for many years. I am currently on a medical disability, so this situation will not effect me at all. If I return to flying status I will have 10 years remaining before retirement.

Surprisingly enough, the federal government while recognizing that (at least in their minds) a pilot must retire 5 years prior to the normal retirement age due to his profession does not allow a pilot to collect any of his gov't retirement benefits. He is considered to have retired early and must wait until age 62 for some benefits and until 65 for all the benefits. Another example of blatant age discrimination to quote "Hoot".

At age 60 many pilots finds themselves without medical insurance until age 65. One major illness for a family member can wipe out their retirement savings.

If this law allowing a pilot to fly until 65 is enacted you can be sure Southwest will welcome Hoot Gibson back. However, this issue has been proposed on numerous occasions. It has never passed, and is unlikely to pass this time without major support from voters.

Anyone who'd like to see Hoot get his job back, can write their Congressman, Senator, President Bush or anyone else they feel should be supporting this issue. Time to respond is short...

posted 10-30-2006 12:25 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by ColinBurgess:
I know he was a first officer with the airline, and it caused much bemusement to some SouthWest captains to have a shuttle commander as their F/O.

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Years ago when I was a fledgling flight instructor, I had to give a checkout flight (for insurance purposes) to an Alaska pilot who was joining our flying club. I felt kind of silly when me with barely 300 hours at the time was checking out a 10,000+ hour pilot. But I found that he flew the approach fast, didn't use the rudder, and landed sideways. A few landings later he was good to go again in the small Cessna!

posted 11-13-2006 02:54 PM               

Congrats on spectacular career to Hoot. No doubt he's gonna still be doing something, somewhere, and the world will be better for it.

Sure do wish I'd known he commanded a shuttle mission to Mir when I met him at KSC/AHOF in April, '05, darn it. Mir was awesome. What a sight that station must have been out of the Commander's window...

But so glad to have shaken his hand, and the hand of his wife, Dr. Rhea, and shared smiles, all in one glorious moment of living I will forever cherish!