Some pilots fighting mandatory retirement
WASHINGTON – After spending more than half his life in the skies, Don Brumbaugh is a month away being involuntarily grounded. When he turns 60 on Dec. 22, the Southwest Airlines pilot will be forced to retire under a government edict imposed nearly a half-century ago.
Like many other aging airline pilots, Brumbaugh says it’s the rule that should be retired, not the fliers. Over the past several weeks, legions of graying aviators in crisp uniforms have paraded through congressional offices in an attempt to roll back the mandatory retirement age and stay airborne a while longer.
The debate takes a new turn today, when a new international rule goes into effect. It permits foreign pilots up to 65 years old to fly into the United States as long as their co-pilots are no older than 59.
Many U.S. pilots approaching retirement are outraged. They’ve denounced the new international policy as a double standard that further illustrates the need to relax the age limit for U.S. commercial aviators.
“It’s certainly ironic that the rest of the world has adopted a standard that we can’t adopt ourselves,” said Brumbaugh, a Vietnam veteran who flew more than 60 combat missions as a Navy aviator.
The change was implemented by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency that regulates international air travel. The new rule affects pilots in all but four countries: France, Pakistan, Colombia and the United States. U.S. commercial pilots still must comply with the retirement age of 60 that the Federal Aviation Administration set in 1960.
Legislation under consideration in the outgoing Republican-controlled Congress would largely duplicate the international policy by allowing pilots age 60 to 65 in the cockpit if their second pilots are younger than 60. The age change is included in a transportation funding bill awaiting action after the 109th Congress returns on Dec. 5 for its final spurt of business.
Additionally, FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey has commissioned a panel of aviation experts and medical authorities to determine whether the current age requirement should be relaxed.
“We are taking a fresh look at the issue,” said FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette.
The assault on the FAA edict is tied to a broader campaign that baby boomers are waging to break down age barriers throughout the workplace. A core element in the debate is whether pilots in their early-to- mid-60s pose safety risks to the flying public.
Growing government and medical data indicate that health risks are nonexistent, say proponents of the age change. But those arguing to perpetuate the current regulation say it could be disastrous to experiment with the flying public.
The issue has provoked sharp divisions within the airline industry and among the pilots. American Airlines and the Allied Pilots Association, which represents nearly 10,000 American Airlines pilots, oppose the change, as does the Air Line Pilots Association, the nation’s largest pilots union with 61,000 members from 40 airlines.
“You can make an argument on either side of the issue, but for us, it’s pure and simple a safety reason,”’ said Gregg Overman, the communications director for the Allied Pilots Association. Since the 60-year-old retirement age was implemented, he said, “not one single accident has been attributed to the subtle or sudden effect of aging.”
American Airlines spokeswoman Tami McLallen said the rule “has served the industry well … and as such we don’t support changing it at this time.”
Conversely, Southwest Airlines and the 5,300-member Southwest Airlines Pilots Association have joined JetBlue Airways Corp., with 11,000 crew members, in calling for a repeal of the age limit.
Southwest’s top officers, including board Chairman Herbert D. Kelleher, argue that the skills of the airline’s pilots “do not arbitrarily end at age 60.”
Advocates of the proposed repeal have drawn support from research showing that medical advances over the past several decades have vastly improved health and vitality. The emerging slogan of the baby boomers – “60 is the new 40” – is recited often in the push to allow pilots to work longer.
According to a Congressional Research Service study, a male pilot who was approaching 60 when the FAA rule was implemented could expect to live to nearly 76. Today, the life expectancy for a 60-year-old is 80.2 for men and 83.5 for women.
“I think there is some momentum to make changes,” said David Certner, the legislative policy director for AARP, the nationwide advocacy organizer for older Americans. “These older pilots are the ones who have the most experience.”
Economic and generational issues are also at play, explaining the differences among pilots unions. American’s pilots have battled fiercely to preserve their pension plan, with many worrying that they could be adversely affected by changing the retirement age, airline analysts say.
By contrast, pilots at many low-cost airlines don’t have defined pension plans and will draw retirement income from 401(k) investments, which they could expand by working longer. Younger pilots have a stake in preserving the present retirement age, experts say, because it would move out older pilots and offer promotion opportunities.
The Air Line Pilots Association has officially supported the rule since 1980, but a poll released last year showed a divided membership, with 56 percent endorsing the current requirement and 42 percent advocating change.
“This is a rule which has been a contentious one within pilot ranks since day one,” says ALPA spokesman Pete Janhunen.
Meanwhile, many pilots edging toward the current age threshold are contemplating earthbound futures. Brumbaugh, who started flying in 1969, says he’s not sure what he’ll do, but he may get a real estate license. He considered going overseas to fly but didn’t want to be away from his family.
“It’s a shame because I certainly feel that I can be productive for several more years,” he said. “Sixty is not like it used to be.”