Age 60 Rule
The Age 60 Rule is an airline policy that prohibits airline pilots who have reached 60 years of age to continue flying commercial flights. Opponents of the Age 60 law have tried to influence the Congress to change the law to 65 years for years to no avail. Opponents argue that the law is discriminatory because it lacks sufficient evidence to prove that that older pilots are at risk of crashing aeroplanes because of health issues compared to younger pilots of good health. However, the law was changed when Congress passed a bill to increase the age limit of pilots to 65. The decision to sign the bill into law was appropriate because the previous law discriminated over the older pilots. In a court case between the FAA and the PPF, the courts ruled in favour of the FAA because they argue that the FAA is allowed by the law to set the maximum retirement age limit for pilots.
The FAA was arbitrary in increasing the age limit for pilots to 65 because of safety concerns. The FAA believes that they will be blamed if there is an accident involving an older pilot. Furthermore, courts have decided to uphold the decision of the FAA to keep the age limit to 60 because Congress has given the FAA apparent authority to make final decisions about the issue of pilots. Therefore, the courts cannot change the law because the FAA has clear authority from the Congress. The arguments that pilot Federation associations can use to amend the bill include proving that older pilots are of good health and are capable of flying commercial pilots without any risk.