Experience Matters
Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act – S. 893 and H.R. 1761.
EDITOR’S NOTE (2/10/24): This legislation was attempted in 2022. Following the start of the 118th Congress in Jan 2023 the bill was reintroduced and passed the House on July 20, 2023 as the Reauthorization of the FAA bill (HR 3935). It was sent to the Senate where it was marked up by the Aviation Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee on February 8, 2024 (S1939). Because of language differences, the two bills will be sent to a Conference Committee where they will resolve the differences in the two bills – links below.)
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Experienced pilots are needed now more than ever
As the airlines struggle to recover from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, they now face a new threat – an unprecedented pilot shortage. As travel began to rebound this year, record flight cancellations and delays led to what has been referred to as “Travel Armageddon,” with more than 50,000 flight disruptions in July alone. Airlines have been forced to reduce or eliminate routes, with additional cuts yet to come. One major airline recently announced it will cancel more than 45,000 flights in November and December, making it more expensive and difficult to travel this holiday season. All of this is occurring while travel demand remains below pre-pandemic levels.
While there is no question the pandemic exacerbated the pilot shortage, an underlying issue is the massive number of pilot retirements that have begun to take effect under a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rule that requires pilots retire the day they turn 65. As a result of this rule, more than 14,000 of the most experienced pilots will be forced out of the profession over the next 5 years.
At the same time these pilots are leaving the profession, air travel is projected for extraordinary growth. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that more than 14,500 new pilots will be needed in the U.S. each year for the next decade,1 and Boeing estimates that 602,000 new pilots will be needed worldwide over the next two decades.2 With the number of new pilots significantly below what is needed, the airlines face a crisis.
Passing the Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act is an immediate action that can be taken to meet the need for pilots by raising the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots from 65 to 67 and allowing experienced pilots to continue to fly.
The economics of letting experienced pilots fly
The pilot shortage threatens to continue to disrupt domestic travel for millions of people in the U.S. each day. However, the airlines are also critical to global supply chains and move a third of all goods around the world. More than 66.8 billion revenue ton-miles (RTM) of freight move through U.S. air transport systems annually. The FAA estimates that pre-pandemic, the aviation industry contributed more than $1.8 trillion in total U.S. economic activity and supported 11 million U.S. jobs.4
Despite the potential for economic recovery and growth, approximately 500 aircraft remain parked as a result of the pandemic, and additional planes are on order without pilots to fly them.
Passing the Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act will add billions of dollars to the U.S. economy, help create economic stability for the airlines, and grow vital supply lines. Keeping planes moving will sustain jobs and create new employment opportunities across aviation sectors – including flight crew, airport management personnel, and other high paying union jobs. Allowing experienced pilots to continue flying will also help restore smaller city markets, benefiting area businesses. And with increased flights comes increased market competition, providing the traveling public with more choices and lower airfares.
Letting experienced pilots fly will end an ageist rule
Despite federal laws prohibiting age discrimination, commercial airline pilots continue to face mandatory retirement under an FAA rule first enacted more than 60 years ago. The rule has been heavily criticized for decades, with experts arguing that the rule is arbitrary and that it lacks medical or scientific evidence. As early as 1981, a report by the National Institute on Aging concluded that the rule was “indefensible on medical grounds” and that there was no evidence to support any age for mandatory pilot retirement.5 Another study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Academy of Medicine similarly concluded that there was no medical basis for the rule. And in 2006, the president of The Civil Aviation Medical Association (CAMA) issued a scathing opinion on the flawed research the FAA used to support the rule, stating that “there has never been any medical or scientific basis” to justify the rule and it represents “ageism at its worst.”6
The rule has also been criticized as discriminatory by both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). In 2006, the EEOC expressed its “longstanding concern” about the rule and found that it violated the provisions of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA). The EEOC stated that the age limit did not constitute a bona fide occupational qualification and that pilot skill and health can be accurately assessed on an individual basis. The EEOC supported a FAA proposal to raise the pilot retirement age from 60 to 65 as an “interim step in the process of eventually eliminating age as a determinative factor in the employment of airline commercial pilots.”7
In 2007, Congress passed important legislation that began to address these issues.8 This legislation raised the mandatory pilot retirement age from 60 to 65, and it included empirically driven standards that measure pilot fitness to fly and competence on an individual basis. These standards included a medical standard to “ensure an adequate level of safety in flight” and performance standards to “ensure continued acceptable levels of pilot skill and judgment.”
Specifically, this legislation required that pilots over 60 undergo:
- First Class medical every 6 months
- Recurrent training and qualification programs approved by the FAA
- Regular flight test performance evaluations (line checks)
While this legislation was a step forward, there has been no further progress toward removing age as an arbitrary determinant in whether a pilot is allowed to fly. Passing the Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act to increase the pilot retirement age from 65 to 67 will be another step forward in aligning with science and removing an ageist rule.
Letting experienced pilots fly will Promote safety
In the 15 years since the pilot age was raised to 65, there has been no evidence that it compromised safety. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) data for the past 10 years show that commercial aviation accidents involving pilot error are extremely rare – even for pilots over age 60. Evidence that the age limit for commercial pilots can safely be raised to 67 comes from countries that have already done so. In March 2015, Japan raised its mandatory retirement for pilots to age 67, becoming one of nine countries that allow pilots to fly past age 65. Despite having raised their retirement age for pilots, none of these countries present an increased safety risk. Further, a recent study published by MIT shows that although pilots around the world are flying longer, air travel is the safest in aviation history.10
The average life expectancy in the U.S. has increased by almost 10 years since the mandatory retirement rule was first enacted. Medical advances now allow for earlier and more accurate detection of conditions that could result in sudden or subtle incapacitating events in flight. Dr. Susan Northrop, M.D., MPH, the Federal Air Surgeon for the FAA, is exceptionally qualified to establish parameters for First Class medicals that assess pilots’ fitness to fly past age 65. Simulators provide a standardized, evidence-based assessment of the full range of competencies required for safety in flight – including decision making, reaction time, and performance skills.
Under the Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act, pilots over 65 will continue to undergo regular medicals, recurrent training, and simulated tests to demonstrate they maintain the level of skills required to ensure passenger safety—or they will not fly.
Letting experienced pilots fly will help build the pilot pipeline
Airlines are aggressively hiring new pilots in an attempt to meet the growing demand. With attention focused on how to qualify new pilots, however, little attention is being paid to the need for experienced pilots to help train them. Experienced pilots possess a wealth of knowledge that is gained only by time in an aircraft. An essential industry practice is to “pair” experienced pilots with new hire pilots during their initial operating experience to promote the transfer of knowledge as these new pilots build proficiency. This process is so critical that the FAA has enacted regulation to mandate experienced pilots (pilots in command) undergo leadership and mentoring training in order to elevate safety and enhance the “knowledge, skills, abilities, and competence” of new pilots.11
And yet, as the airline industry faces a need for record numbers of competent new pilots, there will be a record shortage of experienced pilots to help prepare them.
Letting experienced pilots fly is a solution that can be implemented now
While the pilot shortage is compounded in the U.S. as a result of retirements, the need for pilots is growing globally. Aviation leaders around the world support raising pilot age limits to meet this demand. The International Air Transportation Association (IATA), representing almost 300 airlines internationally, cites scientific evidence of the safety of multi crew operations as a reason to reexamine pilot age limits that constraint the aviation industry’s ability to recover from the pandemic and meet the global need for pilots.
In a paper IATA will present at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) General Assembly this Fall, it states:
“With demand for air travel anticipated to return to [pre-pandemic] traffic levels in 2023, and then continue on an upward growth path, the demand for commercial pilots is expected to exceed supply…It is therefore timely to revisit legacy age limitation requirements to ensure that they remain fit for purpose, do not represent an unjustified barrier to employment for these critical workers and do [not] constitute de facto age discrimination.”
Legislation has been introduced under S. 893 and H.R. 1761 – the Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act – to raise the pilot retirement age from 65 to 67. We encourage Congress to pass this important legislation to help alleviate the pilot shortage, ensure the viability of the airlines, and ensure the continued safe transport of both passengers and cargo.
For more information contact Lauri-Ellen Smith, APR
Lesmith@cat5communications.net or (904) 219-0977
Text – H.R.1761 – 118th Congress (2023-2024): Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act of 2023 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
S.893 – 118th Congress (2023-2024): Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
(LINK TO CURRENT LEGISLATION HERE:)
FAA Reauthorization Act of 2023 (S. 1939) – GovTrack.us
H.R.3935 – 118th Congress (2023-2024): Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress