Consultant’s Insight: Unions disagree on pilot retirement age

The Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday and now heads to the U.S. Senate for a vote. The bill includes funding for the Federal Aviation Administration ; directions to the FAA to increase air traffic controller hiring targets; and an initiative to establish a workforce development program to support aviation professionals’ education, recruitment and retention. [caption id="attachment_69752" align="alignright" width="298"] Cathy Roberson, Cargo Facts Consulting senior consultant and Air Cargo Next columnist[/caption] The bill also raises the mandatory pilot retirement age to 67 from 65, although opinions vary on this topic, even among unions. “We will do everything in our power to strip the age 67 pilot retirement amendment,” the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said in a statement. “It’s not a serious proposal to meet travel demand and will not accomplish what’s intended. Furthermore, it will be costly to implement, wastes time, and is a gross violation of worker rights and collective bargaining. Bottom line is: It is not good policy and threatens the overall passage of the final bill.” Following the bill’s House approval, the Air L ine Pilots Association (ALPA) released a statement saying the proposed change has not been properly researched. “Raising the retirement age is not only a solution in search of a problem, but it is also a proposal that has not been studied or vetted by aviation safety experts — those upon whom we all rely to keep flying safe, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Transportation , both of whom oppose a change for exactly this reason,” ALPA stated. “Earlier this week, lawmakers even voted against allowing a full and open debate on the House floor, which would have let Americans learn about the risks being introduced to air travel. When people in Washington put personal or special interests ahead of the public interest, Americans lose, and bad public policy gets made.” The risks include “upending union collective bargaining agreements, creating training backlogs and complicating airline flight operations,” the ALPA stated. “This is bad for unions, airlines and passengers who will see additional delays and costs.” Pilot shortage The intent of raising the mandatory retirement age to 67 is to maintain an adequate number of pilots. But is this the right way to address such an issue — if it even is an issue? A 2019 survey of flight operations leaders from management consultant company Oliver Wyman found that 62% listed a shortage of qualified pilots as a critical risk. According to its post-pandemic estimates , the consultant expected a global pilot shortage to emerge in specific geographic regions “no later than 2023 and most probably before.” “Regarding magnitude, in our most likely scenarios, there is a global gap of 34,000 pilots by 2025,” the report stated. “This could be as high as 50,000 in the most extreme scenarios.” Analysts from financial services company Jefferies estimated this year that the United States is short about 10,000 pilots. This supply-demand gap is projected to last until 2027. But it’s difficult to determine whether there is a pilot shortage. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics , there were 148,000 full-time pilots and flight engineers in 2022, up 28.7% from 2021, 32.1% from 2020 and 24.4% from 2019. Even unions appear to differ on this question. “The pilot shortage is real, and ALPA’s continued denial of the shortage and its associated harms serves no one — including the pilots its leaders serve today and those it will serve tomorrow,” the Regional Airlines Association (RAA) said in a December 2022 statement. “Major airlines are drawing unprecedented numbers of pilots from regional airlines, where shortages preceded the pandemic. “Regional airlines are turning to a pilot pipeline with far fewer candidates than needed to replace exits, let alone allow for the growth needed to meet today’s demand. Smaller aircraft have been parked, and airports of all sizes have experienced loss in air service this year. Small community service as we once knew it has already changed — and more airports are at risk.” RAA supports passage of the bill and the proposal to increase the mandatory retirement age for pilots. “RAA thanks the House for passing today’s measure,” the RAA said in a statement Thursday. “The bill includes measures to mitigate the growing pilot shortage and even more acute shortage of airline captains, which have driven a collapse in small community air service across the United States.” Join Air Cargo Next for the second Air Cargo Tech Summit on Monday, Sept. 18, and Tuesday, Sept. 19, at the Brussels Marriott Hotel Grand Place in Belgium. For more information on the summit and to register, click here .

Consultant’s Insight: Unions disagree on pilot retirement age

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