So why do we lay off older workers?

Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III

Here's something I didn't know about that plane that was so skillfully taken down on the Hudson river:

[T]he very experienced five-person crew... averaged 54.4 years.

Turns out the pilot was an expert on safety proceedures.

Here's just a little bit about him:

He received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the U.S. Air Force Academy, and later earned a master’s degrees in industrial psychology and public administration from Purdue and the University of Northern Colorado. At US Airways, he received a formal commendation for his efforts to improve the maintenance of the MD-80 fleets and participated in NASA research into improving runway safety. He also was a visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley's Center for Catastrophic Risk Management.

And to think, the "conservatives" keep wanting more and more deregulation and loosening of safety requirements.