In the United States it is planned that the maximum age for commercial pilots will be increased to 67 in the future. Pilot unions, on the other hand, are up in arms because they see it as a potential safety risk.

The maximum age is currently limited to 65 years. If the Alpa union has its way, among other things, it should stay that way. The background to this is that a Texan member of the House of Representatives has introduced an amendment which, among other things, provides for the so-called retirement age for US airline pilots to be increased to 67 years. The project has already passed the Committee on Transport and Infrastructure.

The Air Line Pilots Association, which unionizes pilots from airlines including United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines, Jetblue, Air Canada and Breeze Airways, has now issued a petition. Members are explicitly asked to participate and take active action against the draft law. The managements of numerous carriers are also accused of having invented the lack of pilots in order to be able to save costs through a higher retirement age. It is also believed that younger pilots could be squeezed out of the market as a result. In the long term, things would get worse.

Alpa is also of the opinion that the current maximum age of 65 years would be a good choice, because security reasons would speak against an increase. Union chairman Ed Sicher emphasizes that the risk of cardiovascular diseases or diabetes increases significantly with age. Taking American Airlines as an example, it is claimed that about 30 percent of the pilots who are about to retire have been on sick leave for a long time.