Airline Pilot Lifespan

Persoanlly, I don't think it necessarily has much to do with the schedules or type of flying you were doing. I think it's more of you no longer have any routine or schedule or "purpose." You know, sort of like what often happens when one partner in a long-married old couple dies the other living one often tends to die not very long after. You have to keep busy somehow.
 
Rocketman99 said:
Persoanlly, I don't think it necessarily has much to do with the schedules or type of flying you were doing. I think it's more of you no longer have any routine or schedule or "purpose." You know, sort of like what often happens when one partner in a long-married old couple dies the other living one often tends to die not very long after. You have to keep busy somehow.
Click to expand...
Hockey at 65 yrs of age?
 
Rocketman99 said:
Persoanlly, I don't think it necessarily has much to do with the schedules or type of flying you were doing. I think it's more of you no longer have any routine or schedule or "purpose." You know, sort of like what often happens when one partner in a long-married old couple dies the other living one often tends to die not very long after. You have to keep busy somehow.
Click to expand...

Then how do you account for the 18 year difference in airline pilot lifespan compared to the general population? According to the actuarial tables, the general population lives on average another 18 years if they reach the age of 65. That's an ungodly difference.
 
Do they all retire at 65 or are they still working? I think it makes a difference. Slaving for the Man (TM, (c), all rights reserved) seems to keep you going.
 
Think about it though. The pilots aren't dying in their seats by and large. It's AFTER they've stopped flying that they croak. Just seems odd.
 
Rocketman99 said:
Think about it though. The pilots aren't dying in their seats by and large. It's AFTER they've stopped flying that they croak. Just seems odd.
Click to expand...
Well I think you may misunderstand (or I do). The graph is only talking about guys who MAKE IT to retirement.

In case I'm completely misunderstanding, here's a good picture to make up for my stupidity.
CEO.jpg
 
Rocketman99 said:
Do they all retire at 65 or are they still working? I think it makes a difference. Slaving for the Man (TM, (c), all rights reserved) seems to keep you going.
Click to expand...

I'm not aware of any study validating that, nor does it seem to make sense biologically. On the other hand, constantly switching your circadian rhythm, keeping crazy hours, getting short bursts of sleep, spending large amounts of time in thinner air while being exposed to higher amounts of radiation, etc. all seem to make biological sense as explanations for why pilots have shorter lifespans.

Moral of the story: bid domestic and fly as little as humanly possible.
 
I got more sleep internationally. But I only have a three-hour sleep period. I would land in Europe when I'm usually still awake at home. Then I'd fly back and it'd be more like a redeye westbound, but I'd go back to bed for 3 hours sometime in flight which can be a night of sleep for me.

I'm generally a night owl, but I've determined that most of my pairings in my base that are commutable start with one leg in the afternoon, then the rest are early mornings in order to get me back to base on time to commute home.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Moral of the story: bid domestic and fly as little as humanly possible.
Click to expand...

Meh. You can keep your domestic crap. I didn't become an airline pilot to layover in such exotic locales as Moline or basically anywhere else we fly at the "regionals." I've hated that kind flying from pretty much day 1. I definitely am a fan of working as little as possible however.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top