If cognitive decline isn’t a real thing in old age and isn’t a threat to safety, how come the FAA has never raised the retirement age for controllers beyond 56? How come every country has a retirement age below that of pilots?

The actual controller shortage is far worse than any perceived pilot shortage. Shouldnt they be getting the extension? Is it because they don’t have a younger, sharper copilot to supervise them?

There has never been any move to raise their retirement age if being 65-67 really carries no more inherent risk.

 

They are extending controllers to age 61.

 

And, the controllers have a single union and a Defined Benefit plan(if I'm not mistaken) that is predicated on the retirement age. Consequently, their retirement plan is a double edged sword as far as extending the age. The legacy carriers used to be that way with a DB but when that went "poof" and it became a hybrid or strictly a DC, then extending the age became somewhat more palatable.

But yet it still is happening to the controllers.

 

So this whole thing is about money, not safety? We’re finally admitting that? Cool.

Kill it’s

 

Controllers don’t work their sectors as a crew of two. Apples to Oranges my friend.

Make sure you’re in the seat you want for two years. 67 is going to happen.

 

You aren’t very observant. How long have you been here?

 

The safety issue is just a point that each side manipulates to fit their narrative. People for increasing the age say that safety is maintained by keeping experienced pilots in the cockpit. People against say that cognitive decline and other age related health issues negatively affect safety. The real issue at hand for pilots is that increasing the age financially benefits those who want to work longer while penalizing those who don’t. We just like to argue the safety issue rather than the main point which is financial.

 

I think management and those in favor will argue the traveling public benefits from fewer cancelled flights, and fewer airports losing service. That alone is a winning argument for Congress

 

Until ICAO changes the age I’m not really sure how the age can change. Last time it changed the United States was just aligning with the rest of the world - it was a seamless transition.

So how will it work this time? Pay protect pilots for trips that go international? Drop trips without pay? Displace over-65 pilots to NB? Is that even allowed per the UPA? It would be chaos to figure out how to do it.

There are so many moving parts to this that I personally don’t think it’ll be changed until ICAO gives the nod.

 

This is quite the divisive topic. I can make strong arguments for both sides of this issue.

What is being missed by many here is that there is a shortage of young people who want to be pilots and that isn't likely to change. 15 days a month away from home in some crummy hotel seems glamorous for a few years. Then one gets married and has children. Then being away from home for holidays and special events starts to suck.
ALPA is full of crap when they say there's no shortage of pilots - one just needs to go to any halfway decent high school and ask students there how many want to be airline pilots. The response/follow through is underwhelming.
There are a few ways to fix this problem, two of which are short term and have been mentioned here - lower minimums for entry and raising retirement age. What hasn't been mentioned is single pilot ops ... and a shortage of pilots will accelerate that transition. Then the industry will rapidly go from deficit to surplus. That should create another 'lost decade'.

Travel demand is growing and will continue to grow as the world's population has greater disposable income so one can expect companies to add more and more flights. If airlines can't find enough pilots, they'll just raise the number of block hours each pilot flies. So expect to be working more days every month.

The argument's been made that ICAO will stay 65. I would suggest that everyone finds out what staffing is like at foreign carriers and anticipated hiring as China reopens. I expect ICAO to quickly raise retirement age to match the US.

As far as the politics of raising retirement age, one of the drivers to raise the age to 65 was to extend the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund; that's likely to be used as a reason to extend retirement age for any/all professions.

There are also good reasons to keep the retirement age where it's at, but the reasons for raising retirement age will get stronger until the industry moves to single pilot ops.