Pilots Wouldn't Be Forced To Retire Until 65

Two powerful members of Congress Monday introduced separate measures in the House and Senate that would add five years to the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots -- raising it from 60 to 65.

"Our nation has hundreds of experienced, skilled, and capable pilots," said Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-NV), himself a retired airline pilot and sponsor of one of the bills. "Unfortunately, they cannot fly for any commercial airline because once they turn 60 they are forced to retire." He was quoted by Reuters.

The other sponsor: Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), himself a GA pilot.

The two teamed up during the last legislative session on Capitol Hill with proposals that were much the same as those filed on Monday. But they're fighting the bureaucracy in the form of the FAA itself. Without any data to the contrary, the FAA continues to say that the skills and mental functions needed to operate a commercial passenger aircraft can begin to deteriorate at age 60. Period. Retirement at 60 has been the law of the land for some 44 years now.

So far, the ALPA -- America's biggest airline pilot union -- hasn't taken a stand on the Inhofe and Gibbons bills and is expected to continue studying them for some time.

The issue is, however, more pressing now than ever for pilots who, in just the past three years, have given up huge chunks of their pensions to keep their employers in business.

FMI: www.alpa.org, www.house.gov/gibbons, www.inhofe.senate.gov