US House panel votes to amend pilot retirement age to 67 to counter shortage

On Wednesday of this week Members of the US House Committee on Transportation voted 32-31 to raise the mandatory retirement age for pilots from 65 to 67 in proposed legislation to re-authorise Federal Aviation Administration programmes for five years.

“It’s a modest increase but that gives us some time for long-term solutions to take shape,” said Faye Malarkey Black, President of the Regional Airline Association, which represents smaller carriers which supply major airlines. The association had promoted the bill to stop the loss of pilots as airlines ramp up schedules and increase the hiring of pilots after their reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic by persuading aviators to take buyouts.

Airlines have used a shortage of pilots to explain service reductions, especially for small cities. Congress previously raised the mandatory pilot retirement age in 2007, raising it from 60 to 65. The committee voted 63-0 on the proposed FAA reauthorisation bill on Wednesday, though it now faces a vote in the full House. It is unclear if the new retirement age provision would be in a final version of the bill or make it through a vote in either chamber.

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the country’s biggest pilot labour union, which represents aviators at major carriers such as Delta and United, is against the measure. “The rash decision to move an amendment on changing the statutory pilot retirement age, without consulting agencies responsible for safety, or studying potential impacts of such a change as has been done elsewhere, is a politically driven choice that betrays a fundamental understanding of airline industry operations, the pilot profession, and safety,” the ALPA said in a statement.