[General] "My retirement was taken to subsidize your airfare."

[Olympian]

Hello,

I came across an interesting writeup called "35 Secrets Your Pilot Won't Tell You". The following sentence appears in it.

“Please don’t complain to me about your lost bags or the rotten service or that the airline did this or that. My retirement was taken to help subsidize your $39 airfare.” -Pilot, South Carolina

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Could you please explain the meaning of the sentence "My Retirement was taken to help subsidize your $39 airfare." ? I understand that the passengers are getting their airfare subsidized (reduced) but I am not clear about the meaning of "retirement was taken".

Thank you

 

[Munch]

It is not completely clear, but I think this what it means:

The company took away the pilots retirement benefits, so they had lower expenses. This meant they could lower the cost of the tickets. So "retirement" actually means "retirement pay" or "retirement benefits". The money was taken away from the pilots.

 

[5jj]

I read that '35 secrets' article, and I also wondered what that sentence meant. I think that Munch may well be right.

However, as it was not clear to either Munch or me, both native speakers, I don't think you need be concerned about your lack of understanding of it.

 

[Olympian]

Thank you Munch and fivejedjon for your responses.

@Munch - Thank you for the explanation regarding "retirement pay" or "retirement benefits". I don't know if "retirement" can be called a "contraction" of "retirement benefits", but I wonder if AmE has more contractions (?) - for example - Lincoln High (for High School) compared to BrE.

@fivejedjon - I feel much better with your consolation (Can I use the word 'consolation' here?)

 

[5jj]

Thank you Munch and fivejedjon for your responses.

@fivejedjon - I feel much better with your consolation (Can I use the word 'consolation' here?)

It doesn't sound right to me.

I feel much better after reading your words.
Your words were a great consolation to me.
Your words consoled me

 

[Olympian]

It doesn't sound right to me.

I feel much better after reading your words.
Your words were a great consolation to me.
Your words consoled me

Thank you for the correction. Yes, I want to say this - Your words consoled me.