Viewing page 29 of 200

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

-28- 

A goodly number of pilots are buying annuities for themselves. But that is a highly expensive way of doing the job and it will not solve the problem for the bulk of the men.

All of the five air lines having retirement systems have recognized that the problem of pilots is different from that of other male employees and have fixed a normal retirement age of 60 as compared with 65 for other men. But the fact of the matter is that a normal retirement age of 60 for pilots fails in itself to meet the problem. Under existing conditions, it is certain that the vast majority of the pilots will never fly until they are 60; and while normal retirement age of 60 is better than 65, that is only because the annuities immediately available at earlier ages are greater than they would be if the normal age of retirement were 65. 

In order to see what a pilot might get under these several plans, I have taken the case of a pilot who begins at a salary of $250 a month, and whose monthly pay averages $275 in the second year of service, $300 in the third year of service, increasing by $50 a month until he reaches the figure of $1,000 a month in the seventeenth year of service, the level I have assumed for this problem. If a pilot enters air line service at 25, works every month, receives compensation at the indicated schedule, he will receive an annuity, if he is one fo the fortunate few who fly until they are 60, which is by no means inconsequential. Under the Pan American nad United annuity rates, the annuity would be $378 a month; about $433 under the Eastern scale; $320 under the American scale; and $312 under the Braniff. For the pilot who enters at 30 and works through until 60, (or who enters at 25 and misses, on the average, one month out of seven), the annuities are $75 to $85 a month less. 

But the case of a pilot who must quit flying earlier is far different. Take thecae of the pilot who has to quit when he is 45 an who has only 15 years of service, No matter what his physical condition may be, he is not entitled to any immediate annuity at all when he ceases to be a pilot. If he live for 5 years, he can begin to get an annuity but it is only a small fraction of what he would get if he were able to fly until he is 60. In these circumstances, using the salary scale mentioned above, the annuity would range from $47 a month in the case of American to about $67 in the case of United. Even if he is able to fly until he is 50 and has 25 years of service, he would be entitled to an annuity of only about $125 per month under the American plan and $157 under United. The United amount begins to approach what might be thought of as a reasonable figure. But, in relation to a pilot's pay, an annuity of $125 a month after 25 years of service for a man who has become unable to fly, is not in accordance with my idea of what is needed to provide a reasonable amount of security.

But this is not all. In the case of the three larger plans, United, Pan American and American, and pilot who is disqualified when