Business Aviation - 01/31/2005
INHOFE INTRODUCES BILL TO BOOST PILOT RETIREMENT AGE
Charging that there is no scientific basis for requiring Part 121 pilots to quit flying at age 60, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.) reintroduced legislation that would increase the mandatory retirement age for commercial airline pilots.
The current Age 60 limitation, which FAA adopted in 1959, was "arbitrarily set," Inhofe said, "has no scientific basis and discriminates against experienced commercial pilots." The bills he and Gibbons introduced would permit commercial pilots to keep flying until they are 65.
"We must protect our most experienced pilots who are in danger of losing their jobs due to the current mandatory retirement age of 60. Due to thorough physical and mental evaluations in place for all pilots, we know that these experienced pilots meet the highest qualifications and standards."
The twin bills (S.65) and (HR.65) would abolish FAA's Age 60 Rule and replace it with a plan that ties the commercial pilot retirement age to the Social Security retirement age, currently 65. Inhofe said that if the legislation is adopted, "the FAA could not force commercial pilots to retire before they are eligible for Social Security benefits."
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