WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 - The airline industry's financial crisis and the collapse of some pension plans are leading the nation's biggest pilot union and some aviation experts to question a federal rule requiring that airline pilots retire at the age of 60.þþLetting pilots work a few years longer would give those who are suddenly facing much more frugal retirements more time to save money, and could reduce the funds' expenses by cutting the number of pensioners, advocates say. For some airlines, it could also trim operating costs by reducing the need to train new pilots, although not all airlines would see benefits and some might see additional costs, experts say. þþSome pilots see the idea of another few years of work as intensely appealing, and are arguing that it would be good for the industry, too. Graham W. Jones 3rd, a 59-year-old captain who flies Boeing 747's for United Airlines, said the influx of retiring pilots would strain the finances of the government's Pension Guarantee Benefit Corporation, which is poised to take over United's pension plan. The corporation has already taken over US Airways' pension plan.þþWhen his company's plan was healthy, Mr. Jones was expecting a pension of nearly $9,000 a month and a lump-sum payment of $250,000; now he is expecting no lump sum and a monthly benefit of about $2,500, he said. ÿNow that the pensions have fallen apart, I'll have to do something else, maybe be a greeter at Wal-Mart,ÿ he said.þþIn fact, the effect of extending pilots' retirement age on the pension funds would depend on how the extra years were treated. If their pension benefits continued to increase by 2 or 3 percent per year worked, the funds would not be helped, according to experts. But at a time when pilots are accepting pay cuts, advocates say that the airlines and the pilots might strike a deal to freeze the benefits and let the pilots earn money for a few more years. þþAnd the politics of the retirement rule are changing. The relatively early retirement had long been supported by the Air Line Pilots Association, the largest union, as a compromise among its members that gives younger pilots a shot at the best jobs. In exchange, the retirees got very generous benefits - at least until the financial crisis hit.þþNow, the benefits are starkly reduced, and many of the younger pilots who always supported early retirement have been laid off and have moved on to other kinds of jobs, changing the balance of opinion within the union.þþLate last year, the pilots' union decided to review its policy and conduct an ÿeducation campaignÿ for members; it plans to poll the members this spring. ÿIt's going at a deliberate pace, because we don't want to give the issue a cursory treatment,ÿ said a spokesman, John Mazor. þþLast month, Representative Jim Gibbons, a Nevada Republican who is a former commercial pilot, introduced a bill that would make pilots retire when full Social Security benefits begin, which is age 65 for people who are now 60. þþMr. Gibbons had introduced similar bills in the past, but since the airline pension crisis began he has pointed to it as an additional reason to pass the legislation.þþAt the United Airlines chapter of the union, Steven C. Derebey, the communications chairman, said: ÿIt had always been an issue of safety. Now that it's become an issue of money, it gets center stage again.ÿþþOne concern for the airlines was that any change in the rules not be retroactive, said Basil Barimo, vice president for operations and safety at the Air Transport Association, the trade association of the major airlines. If a pilot who retired at 60 a couple of years ago was suddenly allowed to fly again, the disruption and retraining at the airlines would be substantial, he said. Raising the limit by two years and assessing the effect may be a better approach, he added.þþÿRealistically, there's longer life expectancy, and medical care that carries people out there farther,ÿ Mr. Barimo said. ÿThere's technology that helps pilots to manage the workload. Ultimately we would expect that the age limit would creep up.ÿþþHis organization has not taken a position on the issue, though, and industry executives say many airlines have not figured out what the effect would be. If, for example, a senior pilot like Mr. Jones retires, someone flying a smaller plane would be trained to replace him, and someone flying an even smaller plane would be trained to replace that pilot. At some airlines, a single retirement could result in eight people being trained to fly new planes, which is a significant expense.þþAirlines that can replace senior pilots with younger ones can save money on salary. But no one seems sure how other costs, like health care, would change. þþWhile the position of the union, which is a powerful influence, has been based on a truce among its members, the Federal Aviation Administration says the purpose of the rule is safety. Mr. Mazor, the union spokesman, said the union ÿis not going to reverse its policy if it means that safety will be affected,ÿ adding, ÿand that's not an easy question to answer.ÿ But many pilots say that scientific justification for a strict age limit is weak.þþAt the F.A.A., Laura J. Brown, a spokeswoman, said, ÿTo date, there's been no scientific consensus that would provide a basis for changing the age 60 limit.ÿ The agency did a study of the safety implications in March 1993, but it was inconclusive, Ms. Brown said. þþIn 1995, the agency brought commuter airlines under the same rules as major airlines, but among those 8,000 pilots there were 200 who were already 60, she said. They were allowed to keep flying until 65, which had been the retirement age for commuter pilots.þþThe F.A.A. recently published a proposal to let its air traffic controllers work beyond 56, their mandatory retirement age. They would be subject to extra health screenings. þþJ. Randolph Babbitt, a former president of the pilots' union, said that airline captains, who currently undergo physicals every six months, would probably get additional testing if they were to work beyond 60, and that this might mean new kinds of exams, like cognitive tests. þþÿThe elephant in the room for the pilots is, when are you going to start doing it?ÿ Mr. Babbitt said. Such testing might find ÿguys who should retire at 55,ÿ he said.þþBut, he added, ÿEverybody believes age is a very poor, very inaccurate, incomplete measurement.ÿþþ
Source: NY Times
