Airline pilots lobby to fly past age 60

[IHateDaley]

Who is it?

Hugh Jorgan...
Just kidding, I'm not going to say.

 

[Dizel8]

Does anyone know what the "lame duck" session of Congress in November means?

Strikes me that they are pretty much lame ducks 99% of the time!

 

[climb2slow]

reponse from my senator....

Thank you for contacting me regarding age restrictions and retirement benefits for commercial airline pilots. I appreciate hearing from you and would like to take this opportunity to respond.

The Age 65 Act (S. 65), which was introduced by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) on January 24, 2005, seeks to amend federal aviation law to increase the mandatory retirement age for commercial airline pilots from 60 to 65. This measure would in effect tie the commercial pilot retirement age to the social security retirement age, prohibiting the Federal Aviation Administration from requiring commercial pilots to retire before they are eligible for Social Security benefits.

S. 65 was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, where it was amended to allow pilots over 60 to fly if accompanied by a co-pilot who is 59 or younger. The committee approved this amendment pending its adoption by the International Civil Aviation Organization, which is set to meet on this issue in November 2006. S. 65 now awaits a vote before the full Senate.

A similar measure (H.R. 65) was also introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Jim Gibbons (R-NV) on January 4, 2005, and was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

S. 65 would protect workers’ rights both by rescinding an outdated, discriminatory regulation, and allowing thousands of pilots to continue to pay into their pensions and into Social Security. This particular economic advantage cannot be overlooked, especially considering the current fragile state of a number of airline pension programs.

The Senate’s major pension reform bill, the Pension Security and Transparency Act of 2005 (S. 1783), was passed with my support on November 16, 2005, by a vote of 97 to 2. During Senate floor debate of S. 1783, Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) offered the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Pilots Equitable Treatment Act (S. 685) as an amendment (S.Amdt. 2583) to this bill. Both S. 685 and its related amendment would require the PBGC to offer airline pilots, who are required by the FAA to retire at age 60, the maximum pension benefits allowed on terminated pension plans. S.Amdt. 2583 was adopted into S. 1783 by a vote of 58 to 41. Differences between the House- and Senate-passed pension reform legislation must now be reconciled through a conference committee before further action can be taken.

Again, thank you for sharing your views with me. If you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. In addition, for more information about issues and activities important to Florida, please sign up for my weekly newsletter at http://martinez.senate.gov.

Sincerely,

Mel Martinez
United States Senator

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Strikes me that they are pretty much lame ducks 99% of the time!

considering your relative voice is non existant in DC, I see what you mean....

 

[Andy]

Does anyone know what the "lame duck" session of Congress in November means?

Yes ..

 

[Andy]

He flew 37 years for United. Wow life really did screw him, I feel so bad. I mean, that must mean that he was hired when he was 23? God bless his unfairly tortured soul.

Correction- he was hired at 22.

 

[Andy]

Mel Martinez
United States Senator

Climb2slow, that's because Mel is GOP. GOP is solidly behind changing it. Your time is better spent concentrating on Dems. I sent you a PM.

 

[N1kawotg]

No matter whose side you are on. Here's a question. If the law was not around today, could ALPA or anyone else make it law? My guess no way!
Remember, no hearings etc was used to make it law the first time.
Lobbyist have kept it around. IMO

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

This measure would in effect tie the commercial pilot retirement age to the social security retirement age, prohibiting the Federal Aviation Administration from requiring commercial pilots to retire before they are eligible for Social Security benefits.

S. 65 would protect worker's rights both by rescinding an outdated, discriminatory regulation, and allowing thousands of pilots to continue to pay into their pensions and into Social Security. This particular economic advantage cannot be overlooked, especially considering the current fragile state of a number of airline pension programs.

Sincerely,

Mel Martinez
United States Senator

Look closer at this guys. The real reason age 65 is coming is money. Money for Social Security. Less money spent by the PBGC. They will package this as workers' rights or some other mumbo jumbo to make it look they are doing us a huge favor, but they just want the money.

That's why pay raises for Congress ALWAYS get passed by Congress.

 

[Andy]

No matter whose side you are on. Here's a question. If the law was not around today, could ALPA or anyone else make it law? My guess no way!
Remember, no hearings etc was used to make it law the first time.
Lobbyist have kept it around. IMO

That's not true. There were hearings. Do some research on why the FAA was created. It was due to the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. The reason why the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 was passed was due to the large number of airline accidents. Here's a page that talks about the history a bit:
http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Government_Role/FAA_History/POL8.htm

And in spite of stories to the contrary, Quesada formed a committee to make recommendations on how to improve safety - one of the results of that committee was the age 60 rule. After it was recommended, there was a period of time for public comments to be made. IIRC, there were only about 100 comments made about the rule change.
These are some of the pesky details that the pro change 'shooter in the grassy knoll' crowd ignore.

 

[FoxHunter]

That's not true. There were hearings. Do some research on why the FAA was created. It was due to the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. The reason why the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 was passed was due to the large number of airline accidents. Here's a page that talks about the history a bit:
http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Government_Role/FAA_History/POL8.htm

And in spite of stories to the contrary, Quesada formed a committee to make recommendations on how to improve safety - one of the results of that committee was the age 60 rule. After it was recommended, there was a period of time for public comments to be made. IIRC, there were only about 100 comments made about the rule change.
These are some of the pesky details that the pro change 'shooter in the grassy knoll' crowd ignore.

Andy, you must have read the CR Smith Quesada letters.

http://www.age60rule.com/docs/smith_quesada.pdf

 

[Andy]

Andy, you must have read the CR Smith Quesada letters.

[URL="http://www.age60rule.com/docs/smith_quesada.pdf"]http://www.age60rule.com/docs/smith_quesada.pdf[/URL]

I'm not seeing the 'smoking gun' there. More of people making a mountain out of a molehill.
Do you think that Ike was in on the 'conspiracy' by appointing Quesada?

 

[FoxHunter]

I'm not seeing the 'smoking gun' there. More of people making a mountain out of a molehill.
Do you think that Ike was in on the 'conspiracy' by appointing Quesada?

No, but Quesada was appointed the the American BOD after he left the FAA. American, Western, and TWA tried to impose an age 60 retirement on thir pilots. ALPA grieved it and won in Arbitration. Smith had a problem JETS. His senior pilots were the same guys that started in the Ford Tri-motors and the Curtis Condors in the 20s. They were having training problems, which was expensive. Quesada fixed the problem. Quesada came from an era that said if you were age 25 you were too old to fly fighters. Wonder how that thinking would serve the military today? It was also an era that you may have found one pilot out of one hundred that exercised, fifteen out one hundred that did not smoke. WOW! How times have changed. Working to keep age 60 really has all the ethics of scabbing.

 

[ERJFO]

Mel Martinez
United States Senator

Can you send me a copy of the letter you sent her?

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Working to keep age 60 really has all the ethics of scabbing.

Whoa... easy ex non member... What do you mean!!!