Pilots: United Didn't Even Try to Follow Law -Courthouse News Service

 CHICAGO (CN) - United Airlines fired three senior pilots in a undisguised effort to eliminate pilots 65 and older, without "even bother[ing]" to give a nondiscriminatory reason for their terminations, the three men claim in court.

Douglas Bader, Charles Doyle and Ralph Rina sued United Airlines in Federal Court.

All of them worked as line pilots for Continental Airlines, until they reached 65, the statutory age limit for flying commercial passenger jets, when they became flight instructors.

When Continental and United merged in 2010, United negotiated a new agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) with the aim of getting rid of pilots older than 65, the pilots say.

"United aggressively pursued inclusion of a provision in the new United/ALPA contract to eliminate all pilots and instructors over the age of 65. United made no secret of its intentions during the negotiations," the complaint states.

"As a result of United's insistence that the new United/ALPA contract eliminate all pilots and instructors over the age of 65, a Letter of Agreement was attached to the new United/ALPA contract to accomplish that purpose. Under this 'Letter of Agreement,' the position of Non-Line Qualified Flight Instructor was abolished at United solely and expressly for the purpose of terminating plaintiffs and others as they turn 65.
 
"United has chosen to terminate each of the plaintiffs based solely on their age, in violation of the ADEA [Age Discrimination in Employment Act]. United has not even bothered to offer any alternative nondiscriminatory explanation for its actions, making the terminations even more egregious," according to the complaint.

The pilots claim: "There is no statutory or regulatory limit on the age for flight instructors."

Read more here:   http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/04/14/67027.htm