- Congress is engaged on a invoice to reauthorize the FAA for 5 years.
- One measure might embrace elevating the age pilots have to retire from 65 to 67.
- The FAA warned it wants extra information first, whereas Captain Sully strongly opposed the transfer.
Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberg and aviation regulators are warning Congress towards elevating the obligatory retirement age for pilots to 67.
Congress is engaged on a invoice to increase the authorization of the Federal Aviation Administration for 5 years. Final yr, it did not go a invoice earlier than the deadline, which it then quickly prolonged to March of this yr.
Final July, the Home of Representatives handed a invoice that will raise the age pilots need to retire from 65 to 67, Reuters reported.
However as Congress works on the reauthorization invoice, aviation consultants are elevating considerations about this potential measure.
On Monday, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker wrote a letter to Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell, who sit on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
“We imagine it’s essential to supply the company a chance to conduct analysis and decide mitigations,” Whitaker wrote, per Reuters.
“We strongly encourage previous that kind of change with acceptable analysis in order that the FAA can measure any threat related to that coverage and outline acceptable mitigations,” he added.
Throughout a Senate listening to the following day, Whitaker appeared open to the thought of elevating the retirement age, however once more cautioned concerning the want for information first.
Sullenberger — the captain who gained fame following “The Miracle on the Hudson” — was extra adamant in his opposition.
“The pilot retirement age shouldn’t be raised,” he mentioned in a Wednesday X post.
“There are usually not information to assist it, and there are security and operational points with elevating it,” he added.
Pilots aged over 64 aren’t allowed to work on worldwide flights. The Regional Airline Affiliation, a commerce group for smaller airways, supports the change in keeping with the Related Press.
However the Air Line Pilots Affiliation, a union that represents 77,000 pilots within the US and Canada, opposes elevating the age. It says it would not enhance the variety of pilots working, per the AP.
