This is making the rounds.
https://raisethepilotage.com/
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Dear Senator/Representative:
I am writing today to urge you to support raising the airline pilot retirement age. The airline industry is experiencing a pilot shortage which is forecast to get worse. It is essential that Congress take action to help shore up the industry so that our airlines can continue to provide essential air service to Americans.
My union, ____________________________, did not ask my opinion before taking a position on this matter, but I want you to know how I feel.
As a current airline pilot, safety is and always has been my number one priority. In 2007 when the retirement age changed from 60 to 65 ,we heard many argue that raising the retirement age would detract from safety. It did not. Fifteen years of data prove that those arguments were as invalid then as they are today. The fact is that studies show that pilot incapacitation as a result of age-related medical problems is an extremely rare occurrence.
While some are advocating for a reduction in the qualifications for pilots to solve the problem, science and recent airline accidents clearly indicate such a move would be detrimental to airline safety. The reality is that experienced pilots are the backbone of our safe air transportation system.
As Sully Sullenberger demonstrated, in aviation there is no substitute for experience. The FAA believes that experience is so important that it has now mandated that major airlines establish programs where experienced pilots mentor the airline’s newer pilots.
Raising the pilot retirement age will also help relieve the burden on the Social Security system as I will not need to take benefits for a number of additional years.
As Congress considers solutions for the current pilot shortage, I hope that you will keep these views in mind.
The issue is extremely important to me and to our nation’s air transport system. airline pilot retirement age. Let’s do what’s right for the country.
Thank you for your consideration.