Republicans propose raising commercial pilots' mandatory retirement age

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A group of Republicans in Congress on Monday proposed legislation to raise the mandatory commercial pilot retirement age to 67 from 65, in a bid to address an airline industry staff shortage.

The proposal, which would require pilots over age 65 to pass a rigorous medical screening every six months, follows complaints of pilot shortages by many regional airlines.

Senator Lindsey Graham said the proposal would help address travel snarls in the United States. Travelers have faced widespread flight delays and cancellations this summer as airlines struggle to cope with rising travel demand with workforces depleted by employee departures during the COVID pandemic.

The Regional Airline Association praised the legislation, saying a pilot shortage has resulted in 500 aircraft "parked and 315 communities losing air service. Raising the mandatory pilot retirement age is part of the solution to a critical issue with rippling effects."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-senator-proposes-raising-mandatory-141818909.html

Brilliant!!!

[Skittles]

1. I'd be OK with this

not a whole lot of difference between 65 and 67, and they are heavily medically screened

as long as they don't raise it to 80, ya know?

[Wounded Bear]

4. Yeah, this...nt

[Skittles]

5. when people are asked, for an airliner

do you want two older pilots, two younger pilots, or one older pilot with one younger pilot - guess which one they go for

experience still counts with the flyboys / gals

honestly I'm sure with automation they only need one pilot but people are not ready to go there yet......

[Ocelot II]

7. You need two pilots even with the automation,

which isn't as automated as you might think. One pilot tells the system what to do (dial in an altitude or a heading, and then the plane will go there), and the other one has to verify that the instruction is correct. Even if a flight plan has been loaded into the nav system it might be changed en route, and that has to be entered and verified. All checklists (and there is a separate checklist for each phase of flight) are read by one pilot and responded to and confirmed by the other. If something goes wrong both pilots are absolutely essential. Flying a big jet is not a one-person job and it probably won't be for a very long time.

[North Shore Chicago]

10. Good post

[MiniMe]

2. Fine, then we can do Republican only flights with those older pilots.

[former9thward]

3. If we can have presidents in their 70s we can certainly have pilots in their late 60s.

It is highly computerized anyway.

[spooky3]

6. Remove the maximum age entirely, as with nearly every other occupation.

Individual, job-relevant testing is the key.

[Skittles]

8. I ran this by a retired commerical pilot who is 70 now

he said:

An age based retirement makes less sense than a physical/mental evaluation. I always thought that an biennial cognitive test and annual stress EKG would be the way to go. Some pilots at 70 are more fit than some at 50.

[spooky3]

9. Interesting! Nt