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1625 K St., N.W., Rm. 301
Washington 6, D.C.
October 23, 1947

AIR MAIL
SPECIAL DELIVERY

Mr. David L. Behncke, President
Air Line Pilots Association
3145 W. 63rd St.
Chicago, Illinois

Dear Mr. Behncke:

I am enclosing a draft of comments on the problems of pilot retirement for possible use in your presentation to the President's Air Policy Board.

In drafting this statement I have been at a little loss because of my lack of knowledge as to the tone of your main statement. I have assumed that although the submission will be in writing, it will be in the first person, and my own part is drafted accordingly. If your statement, of course, is to be in the third person, the draft will have to be revised.

I have used a rather mildly belligerent tone which may or may not be consistent with the other parts of your remarks. It could be made very much more outspoken, or it could be somewhat toned down. I tried to take a middle course which would be positive without offending anyone.

I have not attempted to make any statement with respect to the interests of A.L.P.A. in relation to the task assigned by the President to his Air Policy Board. I have assumed that this would be part of your own introduction and, on that assumption, I have directly in one place and indirectly in another referred to such a statement.

I call your attention to three statements of fact which you ought to correct if they are not exactly right:

(a) The air line pilots have been interested in a retirement problem for about 10 years.
(b) A committee was set up in 1939 and made some progress before the war put an end to such matters for the duration.
(c) In formulating any of the existing retirement plans the air lines have not informed the pilots as to their plans. By this, of course, I mean that they have not asked the A.L.P.A. I would regard the statement as correct even though the air lines may have asked the opinions of individual pilots which, I should suppose, they may have done.

The study to which I refer is based on the first 225 responses from members who have ceased to be air line pilots. This, as a matter of fact, was all the response among the 3,025 forms which