OPINION:
Independence Day proved to be an enormous headache for Americans as travel returned to pre-pandemic levels. Thousands of flights were delayed before the holiday, leaving hundreds of thousands of families across the United States stranded. However, this latest aviation fiasco is just one in a series of failures for the airline industry. Since 2019, nearly half a million flights have been cancelled and over 1.7 million delayed, largely due to an industry-wide workforce shortage made worse by unnecessary federal regulations. The American people deserve better. Fortunately, this is a problem Congress can help fix.
In March, alongside Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and a bipartisan group of senators, I introduced the Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act to address airline flight cancellations caused by pilot shortages. This legislation would raise the mandatory commercial pilot retirement age from 65 to 67, while ensuring pilots over the age of 65 maintain a first-class medical certification that must be renewed every six months. Raising the mandatory commercial pilot retirement age by two years would allow more experienced pilots to keep doing what they love and enable them to train younger recruits. Forcing pilots to retire at 65, even if they wish to continue flying, only impedes reliable air transportation in this country.
Despite Big Labor’s assumption that raising the pilot age will negatively impact the safety of the flying public, the evidence points to the contrary. In 2007, the retirement age for pilots in the U.S. was raised from 60 to 65 after medical reports concluded age had an ‘insignificant impact’ on performance in the cockpit. The assertion that pilots are incapable of flying safely once they have reached the age of 65 ignores the objective metrics the industry uses to assess a pilot’s competence in the cockpit.
The support for this common-sense proposition goes beyond lawmakers on Capitol Hill. I have had the pleasure of working with advocates who have taken a strong stance against the labor unions’ status quo position. One group with which I have met several times, Raise the Age, consists of pilots who still want to fly but will be grounded solely due to their age. Collectively, they have millions of flight hours and hundreds of years of representational, safety, and managerial experience in the airline industry. Many of the group’s members have even been directly involved in crafting today’s aviation safety regulations, protocols, and negotiated agreements. These experienced professionals should have the option to keep flying.
Baby boomers represent half of the airline pilot population, which means that this problem will get worse if Congress does not act. If current regulations stand, nearly 50% of the qualified commercial workforce will have to retire in the next 15 years, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts an average of 18,100 openings each year over the next decade.
The pilot shortage is an issue we can no longer ignore. As we continue to debate the FAA Reauthorization in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, I will push to include this legislation in the final bill. We need to ensure our nation’s airspace is as accessible and safe as possible. Allowing experienced pilots to fly, train, and teach the next generation will be critical to making this a reality.
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• Senator Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican, is the first woman to represent the state in the United States Senate. She serves on the Deputy Whip Team and is a member of the Finance Committee; the Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee; the Veterans Affairs Committee; and the Judiciary Committee. She serves as the Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security and the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law. Before her election to the Senate, she represented Tennessee’s Seventh Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. She dedicates her public service to promoting opportunities for women and making America a more prosperous place to live.
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