Pilots, vertigo and economic damages
Situation:
A 50 year old commercial airline pilot, as a result of an biking accident, develops a severe case of vertigo that prevents him from flying an airplane again. What economic loss, if any, has the pilot suffered as a result of the accident?
A: The pilot has most likely suffered an economic loss. However, there are several things that need to be considered in this analysis to determine with any certainty what those losses are.
1. Pre-accident airline pilot earnings capacity. The first thing that must be considered is how much the pilot would have earned in at the airline over their remaining worklife. Commercial airline pilots are (usually, almost always) forced to retire at around 60 years of age. So to figure the pilot's lost earnings only promotions and wage increases that occurred over the next 10 or so years should be considered.
2. Post-accident airline pilot earnings capacity. This is the trickiest part of the analysis. An airline pilot is a profession with a relatively non-transferable skill set. For example, a injured surgeon who can no longer operate could conceivable operate a non-surgery practice focusing in the principally the same specialty as before the injury. The skill set for pilots however only directly transfer to a number of non-flying professions.
If the pilot is able to secure alternative employment in a directly related non-flying profession, it is likely that the wages in the job would be somewhat lower but fairly comparable (with 25% or so). The wages in the alternative job in this scenario will be comparable because the labor market will tend to value jobs with similar skill, knowledge and ability requirements the same or close to the same.
The time the time that it takes to acquire the new position however will most likely be longer for older, more experienced pilots. U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics can be used to estimate the time this will take for any given demographic group.
If the pilot is not able to obtain a related position, the alternative wages will be much lower. If this is the case that the pilot ends up facing, it is reasonable to assume that the pilot will experience similar to other college graduates with little or no job related experience.
A 50 year old commercial airline pilot, as a result of an biking accident, develops a severe case of vertigo that prevents him from flying an airplane again. What economic loss, if any, has the pilot suffered as a result of the accident?
A: The pilot has most likely suffered an economic loss. However, there are several things that need to be considered in this analysis to determine with any certainty what those losses are.
1. Pre-accident airline pilot earnings capacity. The first thing that must be considered is how much the pilot would have earned in at the airline over their remaining worklife. Commercial airline pilots are (usually, almost always) forced to retire at around 60 years of age. So to figure the pilot's lost earnings only promotions and wage increases that occurred over the next 10 or so years should be considered.
2. Post-accident airline pilot earnings capacity. This is the trickiest part of the analysis. An airline pilot is a profession with a relatively non-transferable skill set. For example, a injured surgeon who can no longer operate could conceivable operate a non-surgery practice focusing in the principally the same specialty as before the injury. The skill set for pilots however only directly transfer to a number of non-flying professions.
If the pilot is able to secure alternative employment in a directly related non-flying profession, it is likely that the wages in the job would be somewhat lower but fairly comparable (with 25% or so). The wages in the alternative job in this scenario will be comparable because the labor market will tend to value jobs with similar skill, knowledge and ability requirements the same or close to the same.
The time the time that it takes to acquire the new position however will most likely be longer for older, more experienced pilots. U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics can be used to estimate the time this will take for any given demographic group.
If the pilot is not able to obtain a related position, the alternative wages will be much lower. If this is the case that the pilot ends up facing, it is reasonable to assume that the pilot will experience similar to other college graduates with little or no job related experience.
posted by The Experts @ 1:48 PM
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