Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal Volume 2 | Issue 2 Article 4 1985 No Place to Go After 60: The liP ght of Pilots and Flight Engineers in the Airline Industry Amy Gibbons Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/hlelj Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Gibbons, Amy (1985) "No Place to Go After 60: The lP ight of Pilots and Flight Engineers in the Airline Industry," Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal: Vol. 2: Iss. 2, Article 4. Available at: http://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/hlelj/vol2/iss2/4 This document is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Gibbons: No Place to Go After 60: The Plight of Pilots and Flight Engineer NOTES NO PLACE TO GO AFTER 60: THE PLIGHT OF PILOTS AND FLIGHT ENGINEERS IN THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY I. INTRODUCTION These are turbulent times for airline pilots and second officers due to the industry's deregulation in 1978.1 "Cut-throat" competi- tion 2 and brutal price wars have forced established airlines to cut costs by reducing their staffs and mandating the retirement of senior members at age sixty. As an alternative to retirement at this age, some pilots have tried to downbid3 to the position of flight engineers (also entitled second officers) .4 When their employers have refused to fulfill their downbid requests, the pilots have brought actions under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967.