Old Pilots and their Constitutions

    Germany's highest court has taken away the airline transport pilot's license of a 65 year old professional pilot and denied him his request to be allowed to fly on for "a few more years". the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe said it would not hear his case because it was accepted that the lives and safety of airline passengers were inextricably linked to their pilot's mental alertness and physical fitness. Without an ATPL the average professional pilot is reduced to flying 3rd level services as a commercial pilot flying non-scheduled routes or corporate jets.
    After a recent announcement, and following an ICAO precedent, the FAA could formally adopt a new maximum age 65 rule in a matter of months, but US federal lawmakers could also speed up that progress. If they pass legislation already filed on the matter, the FAA would be forced to enact it within 30 days. That would give more than 1,600 U.S. pilots who turn 60 this year, five more years in the air. However if the rule takes 18 months to take effect, as many are predicting, those who turn 60 before that date will not be able to resume their careers.
The new US rule would still require at least one pilot to be under 60 years old on every flight. MORE