Hal being older wasn't a problem... his power is driven by will so he's okay to age... the issue then becomes when he's noticeably older and more experienced than Batman and that will never be allowed.
As it stands, I had no problem with post-crisis Hal. He had a legitimate character arc and growth. He was more introspective and more an authority figure and leader type... but he'd had a long journey to GET there... and when vol 2 ended and vol 3 started he was literally one of three Green Lanterns in the universe and the most experienced one there was. A TON of responsibility and he grew from it. That was fine. Emerald Twilight was hot garbage.. but elder statesman wasn't a bad fit for Hal. I loved the first 40+ issues of Vol 3 quite a lot. Even the grey streaks weren't bad depending on how the artist drew them... There were some ugly interpretations though...
I liked how he was less reckless and more confident. Less of 'I can do anything because i'm awesome.... ' and more 'I've been in tougher spots that this, this is nothing...'
I think Johns was channeling that a bit in his post rebirth earth issues. Hal falling out of a jet leaping at a manhunter with a battery in his head, thinking something like. "Rings dead, Jets gone, falling to my death... believe or not, I still have plan." I loved that.