At the time I reached age 60, in August 2005, the FAA retirement age for airline pilots was 60. UPS had a lousy retirement at that time, especially if a pilot was retiring with only 16 years of service, as I was. Fortunately, UPS was still flying Boeing 747s and DC-8s, which required flight engineers. There is no retirement age for engineers, so I was able to continue working, by accepting a demotion to Second Officer, along with a pay cut. I don't remember why, but I chose the DC-8, perhaps because of my previous experience as an engineer on that plane during my probationary year.
My last flight on the B-767, as a captain, was pretty cool. I tried to get one of the guys I had flown with before to join me, but no one could work it into their schedules. I flew with the son of a former chief pilot, with whom I had flown as an FO on the 747 many years before. The flight was from Ontario CA to Louisville, was in the daytime and my wife and daughter were able to greet us as we parked the plane.
Air traffic controllers were congratulating me on my last flight as we crossed the country. UPS was pretty good at things like that. As we entered the parking ramp, the airport fire department had pumper trucks on either side of the entrance, squirting water across the plane.
I hadn't been very emotional during the entire flight, but as I walked down the stairs from the plane, I could see that Doreen and Caitlin were a little teary eyed. I got a little choked up for a few seconds and my eyes got a little misty. It wan't like I was really done with flying, I just would not be at the controls of an airliner again, or at least that is what I thought at the time.
