FAA to Propose Raising
Pilot Retirement Age
By ANDY PASZTOR
January 29, 2007 5:34 p.m.
LOS ANGELES -- U.S. aviation regulators are expected to announce as early as Tuesday that they will formally propose raising the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots to 65 years from the current limit of 60 years, according to industry officials familiar with the matter.
Federal Aviation Administration chief Marion Blakey's anticipated proposal allowing older pilots to stay behind the controls reverses decades of strong agency support for the 60-year retirement limit. The shift comes as international aviation rules increasingly permit such changes. Meanwhile, the leadership of largest U.S. pilot union is moving to abandon previous hard-line opposition to raising the retirement age. And recent research on brain functioning could provide ammunition to counter arguments that older pilots would mean increased safety risks.
By opting to begin formal rulemaking -- a process that will solicit a wide range of views and potentially could be controversial enough to delay a decision for 18 months or longer -- the FAA is relying partly on the notion that there isn't any solid scientific evidence to justify maintaining the current limit. Indeed, recent discoveries of brain functions suggest that for many older people, experience and ingrained patterns of thinking actually can help keep them at the top of their game as pilots, air-traffic controllers and in other professions. Some tests, for example, have revealed that older controllers in their 60s were able to handle simulated emergencies as well or better than younger ones.
A hotly contested rulemaking could last for 18 months or longer. But if pilot unions and other groups adopt a conciliatory stance and don't lob in a barrage of objections, a so-called fast track rulemaking could be completed more quickly, according to industry officials familiar with the issue.
The Air Line Pilots Association, the largest U.S. pilot union, had been a staunch opponent of raising the retirement age, with surveys showing that a majority of its members supported the 60-year limit that makes it easier for younger pilots to move up in seniority. But John Prater, the recently elected president of ALPA, campaigned on pledge to rethink and perhaps abandon that position. Tough economic conditions for the industry have eroded pilot pensions and wages, prompting more veteran pilots to look to extend their careers and add to their earnings.
The International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency that sets nonbinding global safety standards, last November determined that airline pilots could safely stay behind the controls until they turn 65, as long as the other pilot in the cockpit is younger than 60. FAA officials have told industry officials that their proposal adopting the same principle will be laid out tomorrow, when the FAA chief delivers a speech to the National Press Club in Washington.
And FAA spokeswoman said that the agency has been "looking very closely at whether we should adopt the ICAO standard." Last-minute discussions with White House officials threatened to delay the announcement, but industry officials said the FAA is now ready to announce its new position. The decision follows weeks of FAA signals and news reports, starting with a story in the Wall Street Journal last December, that the agency was leaning toward a change.
The 60-year rule was established nearly 40 years ago, based on political and economic considerations, rather than scientific research. But reflecting the divisive nature of the issue, an FAA-created study group of airline and pilot representatives in November failed to reach consensus on changing the retirement age. The only thing the group agreed on was that any change, if it comes, shouldn't be retroactive because it would be too hard to reinstate retired pilots into the crew rotation and seniority systems.
Pilot Retirement Age
By ANDY PASZTOR
January 29, 2007 5:34 p.m.
LOS ANGELES -- U.S. aviation regulators are expected to announce as early as Tuesday that they will formally propose raising the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots to 65 years from the current limit of 60 years, according to industry officials familiar with the matter.
Federal Aviation Administration chief Marion Blakey's anticipated proposal allowing older pilots to stay behind the controls reverses decades of strong agency support for the 60-year retirement limit. The shift comes as international aviation rules increasingly permit such changes. Meanwhile, the leadership of largest U.S. pilot union is moving to abandon previous hard-line opposition to raising the retirement age. And recent research on brain functioning could provide ammunition to counter arguments that older pilots would mean increased safety risks.
By opting to begin formal rulemaking -- a process that will solicit a wide range of views and potentially could be controversial enough to delay a decision for 18 months or longer -- the FAA is relying partly on the notion that there isn't any solid scientific evidence to justify maintaining the current limit. Indeed, recent discoveries of brain functions suggest that for many older people, experience and ingrained patterns of thinking actually can help keep them at the top of their game as pilots, air-traffic controllers and in other professions. Some tests, for example, have revealed that older controllers in their 60s were able to handle simulated emergencies as well or better than younger ones.
A hotly contested rulemaking could last for 18 months or longer. But if pilot unions and other groups adopt a conciliatory stance and don't lob in a barrage of objections, a so-called fast track rulemaking could be completed more quickly, according to industry officials familiar with the issue.
The Air Line Pilots Association, the largest U.S. pilot union, had been a staunch opponent of raising the retirement age, with surveys showing that a majority of its members supported the 60-year limit that makes it easier for younger pilots to move up in seniority. But John Prater, the recently elected president of ALPA, campaigned on pledge to rethink and perhaps abandon that position. Tough economic conditions for the industry have eroded pilot pensions and wages, prompting more veteran pilots to look to extend their careers and add to their earnings.
The International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency that sets nonbinding global safety standards, last November determined that airline pilots could safely stay behind the controls until they turn 65, as long as the other pilot in the cockpit is younger than 60. FAA officials have told industry officials that their proposal adopting the same principle will be laid out tomorrow, when the FAA chief delivers a speech to the National Press Club in Washington.
And FAA spokeswoman said that the agency has been "looking very closely at whether we should adopt the ICAO standard." Last-minute discussions with White House officials threatened to delay the announcement, but industry officials said the FAA is now ready to announce its new position. The decision follows weeks of FAA signals and news reports, starting with a story in the Wall Street Journal last December, that the agency was leaning toward a change.
The 60-year rule was established nearly 40 years ago, based on political and economic considerations, rather than scientific research. But reflecting the divisive nature of the issue, an FAA-created study group of airline and pilot representatives in November failed to reach consensus on changing the retirement age. The only thing the group agreed on was that any change, if it comes, shouldn't be retroactive because it would be too hard to reinstate retired pilots into the crew rotation and seniority systems.
