Commercial Pilots’ Union: House Bill Raising Retirement Age to 67 Would ‘Introduce New Risk’

On Thursday, the US House of Representatives voted to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), adding controversial new provisions that include raising the retirement age for pilots. As it heads to the Senate, it faces additional obstacles as lawmakers have more changes planned.

The bill, called HR 3935 or the “Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act,” passed overwhelmingly by 351-69. It sets aside $103 billion for the FAA to operate for another five years.

The changes introduced to FAA policy include: directing the agency to hire more air traffic controllers; requiring the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to eliminate fees for parents traveling with young children who need their own seat; banning Covid-related mandates for either air carrier employees or passengers; and most controversially, raising the retirement age for commercial airline pilots from 65 to 67.

The effort to raise the age to 67 began last year with an effort by US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and won the support of industry associations, but was strongly opposed by the Air Line Pilots Association (APLA), the world’s largest airline pilots’ union.

ALPA denounced the bill, saying on Thursday that it would “introduce new risk by raising the mandatory pilot retirement age.”

“The retirement age increase will upend union collective bargaining agreements, create training backlogs, and complicate airline flight operations. This is bad for unions, airlines, and passengers who will see additional delays and costs,” APLA said in a statement.

“Raising the retirement age is not only a solution in search of a problem, but it is also a proposal that has not been studied or vetted by aviation safety experts - those upon whom we all rely to keep flying safe, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Transportation, both of whom oppose a change for exactly this reason,” the union added.

“As the Senate continues its FAA reauthorization deliberations, ALPA pilots and supporters will continue to push back against raising the airline pilot retirement age and similarly fight any attempts to weaken current pilot training requirements,” ALPA further said.

Before 2007, the pilot retirement age was 60, when pilots’ groups pressed for it to be raised to 65, following rule changes by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). At least one pilot below the age of 60 is required to be on board.

According to one consulting firm, North America will be 12,000 pilots short this year and over the next five years - 14,000 pilots will be forced to retire by leaving the retirement age at 65.

The Regional Airline Association (RAA) said the change "allows retention of more experienced captains, who can in turn fly alongside and mentor new first officers, helping to stabilize attrition."

Senate Version Seeks Reduced Training Hours

Now, as the bill heads to the Senate, it faces a new challenge: a highly contentious passage allowing 150 more flight simulator hours to be counted towards the 1,500-hour minimum required of pilots before they can begin piloting planes with passengers on them.

The House stripped the bill of the language in the hours before the vote, but the amendment adding the language to the Senate markup of the bill is championed by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), a Democratic Party scion whose support will be necessary for Democrats to pass their preferred version of the bill, which doesn’t include the amendment.

The minimum training hours standard was set after the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 in 2009, the United States’ most recent air disaster. The Bombardier Q400 stalled and crashed into a home outside Buffalo, New York, killing 49 people.

An FAA investigation found the pilot responded improperly to stall conditions and Congress followed the agency’s recommendations in raising the minimum training hours from 250 to 1,500.

American Airlines Workers Consider Striking

Unrelatedly, the union for American Airlines flight attendants announced earlier this week it would hold a vote on authorizing a strike, saying the airline has not met their demands for a 35% one-time wage increase, a 6% annual raise, and increased benefits.

“Flight Attendants are ready for an agreement that respects our contributions to the success of this carrier,” Association of Professional Flight Attendants President Julie Hedrick said in a statement.

“Our contract became amendable in 2019, and American’s Flight Attendants have not received cost-of-living increases or any other quality-of-life improvements, even as they played an essential part in keeping American in the skies both during and after the pandemic,” she added.

Pilots for the air carrier - the world’s largest when measured by scheduled passengers carried and revenue passenger mile - also authorized a strike amid tense negotiations with the company in May of this year, but reached a tentative agreement on a new contract shortly afterward.