The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has initially come out in opposition to a proposal to raise the mandatory retirement age of pilots.
More research is needed before increasing the retirement age to 67 from 65, the FAA says.
“It is crucial to provide the agency an opportunity to conduct research and determine mitigations,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a letter to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee.
“When it comes to raising the pilot retirement age, the FAA has made clear that a scientific and safety analysis must come first. That has not happened,” said Senator Maria Cantwell, the committee chair.
“Aviation safety is paramount, and now is not the time to take a shortcut.”
The U.S. House in July voted for raising the retirement age.
However, it failed to pass the bill in time and has since been extended until next month.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Congress last month that the FAA ‘has no data to support such increase to the retirement age.’
He said this would be ‘above the international standard and will have consequences for US air carriers.’
This means that older pilots would likely not be able to fly many if not all international routes due to age limits in other countries.
Pilot unions oppose raising the age, but the Regional Airline Association supports it.
Its members have arguably been most impacted by pilot shortages.
Raising the age would ‘allow retention of more experienced captains, who can in turn fly alongside and mentor new first officers, helping to stabilize attrition, ’it said.
