Allied Pilots Association Emphasizes Support for Retirement at Age 60 As FAA Announces Proposal to Raise Limit

The Allied Pilots Association (APA), representing the 12,000 pilots of American Airlines (NYSE:AMR), reaffirmed its support for maintaining mandatory retirement at age 60 for the nation’s commercial pilots in response to today’s announcement by the Federal Aviation Administration.

FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey announced that the FAA will issue a formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) later this year that calls for raising retirement age to 65 and will publish a final rule after considering all public comment. Administrator Blakey also announced the FAA would reconvene an Age 60 Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) as part of a full examination of the issue. An APA representative participated in last year’s ARC on age 60 retirement.

APA issued the following statement:

“The Allied Pilots Association agrees that the rulemaking process is the appropriate method for deciding this issue, rather than through federal legislation. That noted, the traveling public’s safety is the overriding reason why we should continue requiring our nation’s commercial airline pilots to retire at age 60. We are optimistic that after careful examination, the FAA will decide that public safety is best served by maintaining retirement at age 60. Since the FAA established age 60 retirement some 48 years ago, not one single airline accident has been attributed to the sudden or subtle effects of aging.

“The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in 1997 that age is a ‘bona fide occupational qualification’ for commercial pilots because of the work’s safety-sensitive nature, and the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that ruling in 2005. As for modifying the policy for economic reasons — in essence, to be able to work more years — public safety must always take precedence over financial considerations. Other safety-sensitive occupations in the U.S. also have mandatory retirement ages, including air traffic controllers, who must retire at age 56.

“The recent proposal by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to increase mandatory retirement age requires that one pilot in the cockpit be under the age of 60. Apparently, even ICAO has questions about how old is too old.

“In the exacting environment of commercial aviation, the public’s safety must always come first.”

Founded in 1963, the Allied Pilots Association — the largest independent pilot union in the U.S. — is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. APA represents the 12,000 pilots of American Airlines, including more than 2,800 pilots on furlough. The furloughs began shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Also, several hundred American Airlines pilots are on full-time military leave of absence serving in the armed forces. The union’s Web site address is www.alliedpilots.org.

American Airlines is the nation’s largest passenger carrier.