The end is in sight. After forty years of flying, I am coming up on the last days of taking to the air in an occupation I love. It is hard to give it up. I’m not ready, but the federal government mandates that I hang up the keys to the jets.
It is weird to go to work, enter the pilot lounge, and see the retirement pictures of good friends on the wall. Friends and fellow pilots with whom I have shared so much of my life. We started off as greenhorns and slowly worked our way up through the ranks. Finally, we are at the top of the heap and it’s time to go. Not voluntarily, but by mandate.
Somehow, sixty five is the cutoff…a time where the powers that be say you are no longer able to function as a pilot in command. That your cognitive and physical abilities put people at risk. That no matter your mental or physical abilities, you should no longer be able to fly people to their destinations. It’s arbitrary and capricious. The guidelines say it’s time to sit down, give it up, and move on.
So over the next six months, I will try to capture for you what I feel and what I have learned. Six months isn’t a long time. It will go by in the blink of an eye. But hopefully, I can share my experience with you. My feelings. My insights. My adventures. My dreams. My hopes. It’s not the way I would choose to go, but it is what it is. Bear with me and let me vent and share. I hope we both grow and get something out of these posts. Keep climbing.
Lawyair On The Run 