Age Restrictions for Airline Pilots: Revisiting the FAA's "Age 60 Rule"

Publication Date: June 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Transportation

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Abstract:

Since 1960, federal regulations have specified that individuals age 60 and older may not serve as airline pilots. Over the years, the "Age 60 Rule", as it is commonly known, has been the topic of considerable controversy and debate. The central issue in this debate is whether pilots age 60 and older exhibit age-related declines in health and cognitive abilities that compromise flight safety as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) maintains, or whether these effects typically occur later in the life span. Another key issue is the potential economic impact to pilots and the airline industry. Continued uncertainty in the airline industry is prompting many pilots who once supported the rule as a mechanism for career advancement to rethink the rule in light of large numbers of furloughs, significant financial risks to legacy airline pension funds, and the lack of defined benefit retirement programs at many low cost airlines. Advocates for relaxing the age restrictions for airline pilots also argue that doing so may be a viable means for maintaining sufficient numbers of experienced pilots and avoiding a possible pilot shortage.

Congress has expressed considerable interest in this issue over the years. The rule has been examined in oversight hearings, several bills to increase the age limit have been offered, and Congress has mandated studies examining the rule and its relationship to aviation safety. Affected pilots have petitioned the FAA for waivers to the rule and have challenged the rule in the federal court system on several occasions, all to no avail. While the Age 60 Rule has withstood these challenges, there is currently significant interest in reexamining and perhaps revising this rule. Recently, some airlines have voiced open support for increasing the upper age limit for airline pilots and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) is reviewing its 25-year stance supporting the rule. Many foreign pilots are already permitted to fly past age 60, and a new international standard is under consideration to raise the maximum age for airline pilots to 65 with the proviso that one of the pilots in the cockpit be under age 60.

Possible options for statutory or regulatory change to the Age 60 Rule include increasing the upper age limit for airline pilots; conducting a trial program to examine the possible implications of increasing the upper age limit for airline pilots; or eliminating the upper age limit altogether, relying solely on medical testing to determine each pilot's fitness for duty. In the 109th Congress, two identical bills (S. 65 and H.R. 65) seeking to raise the upper age limit for airline pilots to correspond to their social security retirement ages have been offered. Other legislative options may seek to modify retirement entitlements for pilots to make certain benefits and coverage available to them at age 60. For example, S. 685 would entitle retired pilots under the age of 65 to the same benefits as pensioners over the age of 65 if their pension program is assumed by the federal government's Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC). This report will be updated as needed.