Blakey Announces Change In DC Speech

ANN REALTIME REPORTING 01.30.07 1515 EST: As promised, on Tuesday FAA Administrator Marion Blakey announced the FAA will propose to raise the mandatory retirement age for US commercial pilots from 60 to 65. Speaking before pilots and aviation experts at the National Press Club, Blakey said that the agency plans to propose adopting the new International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standard that allows one pilot to be up to age 65 provided the other pilot is under age 60.

The FAA plans to issue a formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) later this year, and will publish a final rule after careful consideration of all public comments, as required by law.

"A pilot’s experience counts -- it's an added margin of safety," said Blakey. "Foreign airlines have demonstrated that experienced pilots in good health can fly beyond age 60 without compromising safety." 

As Aero-News reported, on September 27, 2006, Administrator Blakey established a group of airline, labor and medical experts to recommend whether the United States should adopt the new ICAO standard and determine what actions would be necessary if the FAA were to change its rule. The Age 60 Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) did not reach a consensus recommendation but did provide detailed insight and analysis that will be helpful as the FAA develops a rule.

Since 1959, the FAA has required that all US pilots stop flying commercial airplanes at age 60. In November 2006, ICAO, the United Nations’ aviation organization, increased the upper age limit for pilots to age 65, provided that the other pilot is under age 60.

Original Report

Is the FAA relenting on its "Age 60" rule? There are indications the agency will soon seek new regulations allowing commercial pilots to remain in the cockpit until the age of 65, as long as the second pilot onboard is younger than 60.

CBS News reports FAA Administrator Marion Blakey will make an announcement Tuesday, in her speech at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

If enacted, the new regulations would mirror similar standards adapted by the International Civil Aviation Organization last November.

As Aero-News reported, a committee of airline and industry representatives, convened at Blakey's request to study the issue, disbanded in December without consensus on the issue. Each side instead presented its respective arguments.

In an odd bit of circumstance, the "Age 60" rule -- which forced pilots flying for commercial passenger airlines to retire at 60 years of age -- was enacted in 1960. While it was somewhat controversial from the start, pilots initially had little reason to complain; after all, older pilots could look forward to healthy pensions upon retirement, while younger pilots were eager to fill the seats vacated by their predecessors. Capping the maximum age for the highest-paid senior-level pilots also allowed airlines to keep their costs in check, at least in theory.

Alas, that was then... and this is a very harsh now. In the face of declining retirement benefits, older pilots have fought to remain in the cockpit -- and, thus, earning a paycheck -- as long as they can. That phenomenon hasn't been limited to the US, either... one reason ICAO adapted the easier standards last year.

Of course, one thing hasn't changed: younger pilots are still hungry for promotion into the left seat, and a reversal of Age 60 would create additional roadblocks for them. Pilots still waiting to come off furlough would also be hit.

The FAA has stated for years it was concerned older pilots may be more prone to health issues... a position several medical experts have denounced, due to the lack of scientific evidence to back it up.

Since the ICAO standards went into effect, nearly all pilots flying for foreign airlines -- except airlines in Colombia, France, and Pakistan -- have been allowed to keep their jobs past the age of 60.

That has presented something of a Catch-22 situation for the United States... as it was forced to accept the ICAO standard for pilots at the controls of foreign airliners flying into the US, even as it adhered to the Age 60 rule for pilots under the agency's jurisdiction.

FMI: www.faa.gov