The Air Line Pilots Association is protesting the Trump administration’s nomination of what they allege is a single-issue candidate as ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization. The White House has put forward former Delta pilot Jeffrey Anderson to the post, which has been vacant since Sully Sullivan stepped down in 2022. ICAO, based in Montreal, is the standards organization for commercial aviation all over the world and is under the auspices of the United Nations. ALPA claims Anderson’s only interest is promoting an increase to the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots from 65 to 67.
“It appears that Mr. Anderson’s only real qualification for the post is his support of a position – raising the mandatory pilot retirement age – that would leave the United States as an outlier in the global aviation space and create chaos on pilot labor, and international and domestic flight operations,” the union said in a statement to Reuters. There is political support among some in Congress to raise the age to tackle pilot shortages in some airlines.
Sullenberger it would be.
Whats so bad about raising the mandatory retirement age by two years? Why not 75?
Every single tax-dollar will count!
Forcing highly experienced pilots to work longer, will help to combat “pilot shortages” and help alleviate the pressure until fully automated airliners can finally take over.
Nobody is forcing pilots to work. As a pilot you can retire when you wish. It is the forced retirement that is the problem for some pilots.
This could be a win for both the public and the pilots if raising the age is tied to meaningful cognitive skills testing starting a baseline at 50
If you want to know why raising the retirement age is a bad idea read this…
https://x.com/MCCCANM/status/1945950553512812940
Guy is a retired KC-10 driver and current 737 captain (a great follow and the only reason I still get on X)
There is no valid reason for a mandatory retirement age.
Some should retire in their fifties; many are fully competent for years after 65.
ALPA states that the US would be an “Outlier” if the age was raised.
Not true; many countries have no retirement age and have excellent safety records.
The American age of 65 distorts the aviation world; preventing competent persons from contributing their experience and expertise to the industry.
ICAO did a study of 15000 pilot years; no reason was found for a retirement age.
The intent was to remove recommendations for a retirement age.
Some ICAO members worked behind the scenes to thwart reality, and ICAO still “Recommends” a retirement age of 65; going against all studies and their own findings.
Airline Pilots are the most monitored profession in the world.
Their is no valid reason for mandatory retirement. Fact!
Remove the nonsensical retirement age and move on to real issues!
Be careful what you wish for. Adding additional medical requirements opens an entire Pandora’s box that AOPA would and have fought tooth and nail to keep from adding. Cognitive issues show up on check rides that every air carrier pilot has to do, as long as check airman are doing their jobs. I have already seen cognitive issues result in a senior pilot not being able to pass a check ride. I see no reason to change the existing 1st class medical standards if the retirement age for pt121 is raised or eliminated.
My opinion only. We have needed cog skills testing for a while. Best to establish a baseline at 50 and monitor decline
So an ICAO rep that wants to raise the retirement age and an FAA Administrator that wants to lower the number of hours required for new hire pilots. So Grandpa flying with his granddaughter.