Age 60 Rules Continues To Be A Sticky Subject

Now, Congress Is Asking Why…

Every year at Meet the Administrator, someone stands up to decry the rule under which U.S. airlines must forcefully retire pilots when they reach age 60. Every year atAirVenture, FAA Adminstrator Garvey reiterates the FAA's support for the Age 60 rule and restates results of a 1993 study that the agency says indicates flying skills fall off after age 60. However, Sunday when a pilot stood up to make his argument against age 60, Garvey talked about a move afoot in Congress to study the rule, and asked AirVenture-visitor, Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) to respond. "I'm 65 years old," Inhofe told the crowd, "so I've got a dog in this fight."

In addition to being 65, Inhofe is also an experienced GA pilot. Last year, a prop fell off his Grumman Tiger in flight. Inhofe determined the normal stall speed on the Tiger sans prop had jumped from 45 to 120 knots. Inhofe credits his age and experience for allowing him to assess the situation, keep his head, and land the Tiger safely. "My son is a great pilot," he told the Meet the Administrator crowd. "But I honestly believe that if this had happened to him, he might not be here today."

Inhofe later told AVweb that he is working to get an Age-65 rule through the Senate, "when the votes are there." "My preference," he told AVweb, "is no age limit, but rigorous stress testing to make sure the pilots are healthy. There's no reason people above age 60 shouldn't be flying. Some people shouldn't be flying at age 40."

As "Retired" Pilot Says "I Think We're Beating Them Down" Bert Yetman of Grapevine, Texas, agrees. Yetman is the one who brought up the Age 60 rule at the Meet the Administrator session. He says he was "forcefully unemployed" from Southwest Airlines in June of 1992, when he turned 60. Yetman is now president of a group called the Professional Pilots Association, made up of pilots who are against the Age 60 rule. "I think we're beating them (the FAA) down," Yetman tells AVweb. " The real world has changed. They can't ignore that. Forty-four countries are age-65. Canada, Mexico and Australia have no age limit. Foreign airline pilots over age 60 can fly into the United States. That's the annoying thing."

"The current pilot shortage is helping (our cause)," says Yetman, "but I think the harmonization of rules worldwide will help more." Yetman intends to speed the process along as much as possible by filing a request with the Seventh Circuit Court in Chicago within 30-60 days. That filing will seek to force the FAA to accept a request for sixty-two Age 60 exemptions. Sixty-two pilots age 54 to 68 want to be allowed to keep their airline jobs beyond age 60. "I've always been optimistic, but now I'm really feeling good." Between action by the courts and scrutiny by Congress, 60 could become just another birthday.