Incident 2.1 Debate over Retiremen On September 26, 2013, the 161 passengers abo
ID: 349511 • Letter: I
Question
Incident 2.1 Debate over Retiremen On September 26, 2013, the 161 passengers aboard United Flight 1603 must have known something was wrong when a crew member asked over the cabin loudspeaker if anyone aboard was a physician. The pilot, Capt. Henry Skillern, 63, was suffering a heart attack. The in-flight emergency that began somewhere in the skies between Houston and Seattle prompted the 737 to divert to Boise, Idaho. Air traffic controllers radioed the plane's first officer who updated them with the captain's condition. Once the aircraft was on the ground first responders boarded and rushed Skillern to Boise's Saint Alphonsus hospital, where he later died. The tragedy threatened to reignite the debate over FAA age restrictions for commercial airline pilots. For years, hundreds of U.S. airline pilots were asking Congress to raise their mandatory retirement from 60 to 65. They said the change won't threaten safety and could ease problems associated with pension cuts. In 2005 Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) spon sored legislation raising the limit, which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) opposed. There's just no scientific consensus that would give us a basis for changing that age-60 limit said an FAA official. The agency argued that the decline in a pilot's cognitive functions and the increased risk of illness over age 60 may affect safety Testifying before the House Aviation Subcommittee in March 2003, Paul Emens of the Air Line Pilots Against Age Discrimination (ALPAAD) said, "The world does not see this as a safety issue. Most of the world is moving to a retirement age of 65 for airline pilots. Japan and the Netherlands, to name but two, have done extensive studies which showed that raising an airline pilot's age is not a risk. Countries such as Japan, Australia, those of the Joint Aviation Authority in Europe all have raised their pilots' retirement age. Some 45 nations now allow their airline pilots to fly past the age of 60. Some do so in United States airspaceExplanation / Answer
1. I believe that just the age should not be considered in this case because age is just a number, instead the capabilities of the pilots need to be assessed and evaluated that even at this age the individual is fit to serve as a pilot. Increasing the age to 65 from 60 has been adopted by various countries and they have been successful in their venture so there is no reason this can cause safety issues in USA. I believe that at the age of 60 pilots should go through a series of test in order to assess the parameters required to let them play the role of pilots. The age should be increased but if the medical condition of the individual is not as per the requirement then the person should not be allowed to continue because that will affect the safety issue.
2. I would like to study this issue as selection based on required parameters and not just the age because discriminating an employee based on the age is violation of a law. So such activities should not be entertained or practiced because that will create a negative impact. There should be a list of parameters which the employees needs to fulfill beyond the age of 60 and if the individual is successful then there should not be any way through they should be discriminated. The flight should also have attendants and cabin crew members who are below 60 so that in case of emergencies, the situation can be handled by them.