Originally Posted by
FmrFreightDog
More "Breaking News" from the fly til you die crowd:
Breaking News
EPAS Update: ICAO General Assembly Action
Today in Montreal, the ICAO General Assembly voted to adopt Working Paper (WP) 696 (reference section 24.19). WP 696 is a post adoption number for WP 349. This is fantastic news. For the first time, ICAO has formally recognized a pathway to raising the pilot retirement age above 65.
In plain terms, ICAO has agreed that experience, competency, and medical fitness—not arbitrary age—must guide aviation policy.
EPAS recognizes that ALPA mounted a singular attempt to eliminate this reform but has now been left with no option other than to try slowing it down. The truth is clear: the global aviation community has chosen progress, safety, and fairness.
With this milestone secured, EPAS will now move forward on two critical priorities:
Ensuring swift U.S. confirmation of an ICAO Ambassador who can advance this momentum.
Collecting and providing all data requested by ICAO to accelerate the standards process.
We will provide more details and analysis as the ICAO General Assembly closes.
Experience is safety. Today, ICAO has taken the decisive step to acknowledge it.
The EPAS Leadership Team
it doesn’t formally recognize anything… it basically says we will take a look at and that we need more data
24.19 The Commission reviewed A42-WP/349, presented by IATA, which proposed to raise the multi-pilot commercial air transport pilot age limit to 67 years, provided that another pilot is under 65. The Commission supported continuing work on pilot age limits and acknowledged that the current medical science is inconclusive regarding the increase in upper age limit. It recognized the diverse State practices and capacities, data challenges and deficiencies identified in the age survey and discussed in the Air Navigation Commission. The ongoing work within ICAO regarding harmonization of data collection and analysis was further noted. The Commission expressed, broad support for efforts to enhance data generation and collection, as well as for strengthening the aviation medical system in alignment with the No Country Left Behind initiative, and in a manner that could safely support consideration for a future increase in the age limit. The Commission further urged States and aviation stakeholders to support ICAO in these activities and agreed that the content of the working paper should be referred to the relevant expert groups for their consideration.