New Law Allows Alaska, Horizon Pilots To Fly Until Age 65

12/17/2007 2:50 p.m.

President Bush signed legislation last week raising the mandatory retirement age for commercial airline pilots to 65. The move ends a 47-year rule that set the mandatory retirement age at 60.

That's good news for Captain David Olson, who would have been forced to retire under the old rule just seven days from now on his 60th birthday.

"I was hoping the legislation would pass so I'd have the option of choosing when to retire," said Olson. "I didn't want to be forced."

An Alaska Airlines pilot since 1983, Olson is No. 96 on the seniority list. He has been flying for 37 years, starting as an Air Force pilot in 1970.

"I intend to continue flying awhile longer," said Olson. "I feel good and really like the people I work with. I guess I'll be the oldest, if not the most senior, pilot at Alaska Airlines until I retire."

Under the new law, pilots who have already retired may not reclaim their jobs or seniority, but airlines can rehire them as new employees. Both the captain and first officer of domestic flights can now be up to age 65, provided they pass regular medical and piloting exams. On international flights, the captain can be older than 60 as long the first officer is younger than 60.

This is not expected to create scheduling problems for Alaska's Canada and Mexico routes "because we have only a few pilots who would be affected by the international rule and they won't reach age 60 for several years," said Bennie Johnson, managing director, flight operations planning and resource management.

Because normal retirement age for pension calculations will remain 60, "pilots will now have a five-year window during which they can choose to retire, which will make staff planning a little more uncertain," said Elizabeth Ryan, director of employee services for flight operations.

Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the Air Line Pilots Association and Alaska Airlines, pilots must notify the carrier 30 days before they retire.

"Our 2008 staffing plan was based on the assumption that approximately 40 pilots would retire next year as they reached age 60," Johnson said. "Some may now choose to continue flying, but we don't know how many."

In addition to raising the mandatory retirement age, the "Fair Treatment for Experienced Pilots Act" provides for a two-year study of the effect of the rule change on flight safety.

The retirement rule was originally part of a larger funding bill that Bush had vowed to veto. Once the pilot legislation was spun out as a separate bill, it sped through Congress, ending a debate that began in 1950 when the federal government first mandated that pilots retire by age 60.

Many pilots chafed at the rule, which required them to stop flying five years before they qualified for Medicare and Social Security. The issue gained prominence in recent years as pilots at US Airways, United and other airlines lost their pensions in bankruptcy.

Initially Alaska Airlines took a neutral position on the proposed rule change. "But we decided to support our pilot union, which was lobbying in favor the legislation," said Megan Lawrence, managing director of government affairs.

"ALPA has worked very hard to ensure that its executive board's recommendations - intended to protect the piloting profession in the face of a change that was certain to come - were included in any age-change legislation, " said Captain John Prater, president of ALPA, International. "I am pleased to report to our members that this legislation reflects the direction of ALPA leadership."

The Federal Aviation Administration was already planning to change the rule, but the congressional vote eliminated the need for a lengthy review process, meaning the new law takes effect immediately.