01/08/09, 02:22:52 UTC

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Friendlier skies

chron.com

The Federal Aviation Administration should let healthy U.S. airline pilots fly until they reach 65.

For almost 50 years the Federal Aviation Administration has required U.S. airline pilots to retire at age 60. The policy lacks a medical rationale, discriminates against American pilots and should be speedily changed.

FAA regulators grant waivers to most foreign airline pilots between the ages of 60 and 65, but decline to do the same for U.S. pilots. The officials cite general policy difficulties, but reluctance to get crosswise with the airlines is no excuse for not doing the right thing by America's pilots, many of whom are veterans of Vietnam and other conflicts.

In January, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said the time had come to end mandatory retirement at 60. She said the FAA had examined safety data and could find no evidence that pilots who reach 60 are any less safe than younger pilots. Several hundred pilots older than 60 fly corporate jets, where they are not restricted.

It's good that she has set the process in motion, but years of bureaucratic torpor and formal rule-making procedures could pass before the change takes effect.

The solution is for the FAA to grant U.S. pilots approaching 60 the same waivers it grants older foreign pilots flying into, out of and around U.S. airports. Safety would not be affected, and the pilots would remain in the cockpit, where they are needed to counter a looming pilot shortage.

The United Nations' Civil Aviation Organization allows one pilot between the 60 and 65, so long as the other pilot is under 60. This seems a reasonable mix of vigor and experience.

The time has passed when a rule change could help Fedex Captain Steven E. Collins, who turned 60 in May. Collins shared his story in a letter to the Chronicle editorial board, which calmly demonstrates the injustice and capriciousness of the over-60 rule:

"I served as an Army helicopter pilot from 1966-1971, flying combat missions in Vietnam in 1968 and 1970. From 1974-1990 I was a Navy fighter pilot deployed on aircraft carriers to hot spots around the world. In 1990 I retired as executive officer of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, better known as "Top Gun."

"In 1990 I joined Fedex as a flight crewmember and rose to captain, based in Anchorage, Alaska. ... It will be 18 months or two years before a proposed new rule will take effect. In the interim, more than 5,000 American commercial pilots will be forced to retire at age 60. ...

"Please inform the American public of this horrible wrong."

 Printable Version  | published Aug 21, 2007