New Interest Groups Formed to Raise Retirement Age of Pilots

As the pilot shortage gains ground on the industry, a pair of new special interest groups have appeared on the scene to bolster a campaign aimed at increasing the useful span of the average ATP holder’s career. 

The groups, “Raise the Pilot Age” and the “Coalition for Airline Pilots Age 68 Retirement Campaign” (CAP68), take a similar tack in their efforts to improve the availability of airline pilots beyond the current 65-year age cutoff. The plan, according to CAP68, is to raise the mandatory retirement age to 68 through legislative activism by capitalizing on recent developments in air travel.

 As it stands, the industry as a whole is staring down the barrel of a decided shortage of qualified, type rated aviators. The high standards of training, the considerable expense of obtaining their ratings, and an inconsistent career outlook over the last 2 decades have done much to dissuade potentially qualified pilots from entering the profession. Up until now, the large body of former military aviators and once-furloughed post-9/11 aviators have buffered the negative effects of retiring pilots - but now retirement looms for them, too. 

As airline delays, missed connections, and scheduling conflicts abound, industry veterans have looked to the most obvious stopgaps available to the industry, namely extending the useful working lifespan of our current crop of pilots. Adding 3 more years to pilots at the top of their game can help alleviate the shortage, while retaining personnel with hard-won, irreplaceable experience just like lawmakers did in 2007. Back then, CAP68 notes, there were those who balked at the increase from the mandatory retirement age of the time at age 60 to age 65. Now, the group says that those naysayers have been proven wrong. Instead, the high level of fitness among those holding a 1st Class medical certificate seems to have ensured a high level of fitness among the flying population, with more than 14 years of data collection as proof positive that the system works. 

Similarly to CAP68, Raise The Pilot Age seeks to rally support from the pilot base itself, encouraging pilots to write their congressional reps in favor of the increased age limit. Interested parties may see some headway soon, given the recently introduced legislation by Senator Lindsey Graham. His piece, the “Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act”, falls somewhat short of the CAP68 goal at only 67 years old, but an increase in and of itself is fairly promising. 

FMI: www.raisethepilotage.com, www.cap68.com