Gibbons calls for boosting retirement age of airline pilots

Wednesday, March 5, 2003 | 9:49 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Staring down his 60th birthday next year, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., a former Delta Airlines pilot, has introduced a bill that would raise the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots from 60 to 65.

Gibbons said members of the AARP, as well as aging pilots, some of whom Gibbons knows personally, have urged him to lead an effort to raise the age limit. Gibbons said hundreds of the nation's most experienced pilots were being forced off the job by "blatant age discrimination."

The Federal Aviation Administration's pilot age-limit rule was adopted in 1959 with no justifications, Gibbons said. It's unnecessary because the FAA requires pilots to pass twice-yearly physical and mental examinations, Gibbons said.

Gibbons noted that 44 nations including Germany, Japan and Great Britain allow pilots to fly after age 60. If passed, Gibbons' bill would increase the retirement age for pilots one year each year for five years.

"The age 60 rule imposed by the FAA has no basis in science, yet it is still on the books," Gibbons said. "In the wake of the airline terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, America's commercial airline industry has never been in greater need of experienced pilots."

Gibbons joked about the bill benefiting him personally. "Hey, I run for two-year terms," Gibbons said. "I may need a job."

But Gibbons said he would "probably not" return to commercial flying. Gibbons is a rising member among House Republicans and has been touted as a possible challenger to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Gibbons was a commercial pilot for 18 years, first for Western Airlines and then Delta when the two carriers merged. Gibbons, a fourth-term congressman from Reno, is also a former Air Force pilot who flew in the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars.

The bill could face challenges from unions and younger pilots who are concerned the bill would allow senior pilots back onto the job, Gibbons said.