There are those who say Delta and Northwest may go the same route. The government-run pension fund pays out a maximum of $45,000 a year, but that's for people who retire at age 65. For those who retire at age 60, including airline pilots, the payout is only around $28,000 a year.ommercial airline pilots must retire at age 60. That hasn't been a problem in the past because pilots had generous pensions. But with several of the major airlines in bankruptcy, pilots are seeing their pensions reduced and some are fighting mandatory retirement.
To determine how much retired pay you may be eligible to receive, the first step is to calculate the number of equivalent years of service. The formula for computing equivalent years of service for Reserve retired pay at age 60 is fairly simple: Total number of Creditable Retirement Points, divided by 360.
â¦ On or after Sept. 8, 1980, divide the number of retirement points by 360 to get years of service in active-duty years. Multiply that figure by 0.025 (2.5 percent). Multiply that figure by the average of the 36 highest months of active-duty base pay for your rank.