FAA Seeks to Raise Pilot Retirement Age
Posted on: Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 12:00 CST
By LESLIE MILLER
WASHINGTON - Airline pilots will be allowed to fly until they turn 65 instead of the current mandatory retirement age of 60 under a proposal to be announced Tuesday by Federal Aviation Administrator Marion Blakey.
Pilots and lobbyists working on the issue say they expect Blakey to include the announcement in a luncheon speech.
The intended change was prompted by a move in that direction by a United Nations organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization. ICAO raised the international standard to 65 on November 23. The rule says if one member of the flight crew is older than 60, the other must be under 60.
Blakey last year ordered a forum of airline, labor and medical experts to recommend whether the United States should raise the age limit. By November, the group hadn't reached a consensus, but outlined the pros and cons of the issue.
Those who favored raising the retirement age said there was no medical evidence that older pilots were unsafe.
Those who oppose it, including the leadership of the Air Line Pilots Association, said that the safety impact of changing the retirement age hasn't been analyzed.
Many pilots want to work longer because their pensions were slashed after their airlines sought bankruptcy protection.
"Many pilots have taken huge penalties to their pensions, and this is a way to recoup some of that," said Carl Kuwitzky, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association, which has lobbied for the change.
Kuwitzky said that many 60-year-old pilots enjoy their careers and are in excellent health.
"They want to continue to fly for a number of years," Kuwitzky said.
Since the international standard changed, foreign pilots have been able to fly in the United States up to age 65, as long as they're accompanied by a co-pilot under 60 and undergo medical testing every six months.
The FAA doesn't have to comply with the international standard for pilots' retirement age, as long as it can show a reason not to.
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On the Net:
Federal Aviation Administration: http://www.faa.gov
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
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