ICAO rejects proposal by airlines group to raise mandatory pilot retirement age

Several airlines supported IATA’s proposal, emphasizing that retaining experienced pilots longer would provide time for training new entrants into the profession. IATA also referenced data from when the retirement age was previously raised from 60 to 65 in 2006, stating there was no increase in safety incidents at that time. The association pointed out that countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada do not have an upper age limit for pilots.

Despite these arguments, ICAO member states voted against changing the current policy due to concerns about aviation safety and health risks associated with aging among flight crew members.

The outcome has led to differing reactions within the industry. Pilots reaching age 65 remain unable to operate multi-crew international flights under ICAO rules. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), representing more than 80,000 pilots in North America, supported ICAO’s decision. ALPA President Jason Ambrosi stated:

“Raising the pilot retirement age is a solution in search of a problem that distracts from the pressing needs of our industry, like modernizing the air traffic control system. The United States leads the world in aviation, and we should resist any political attempts, especially those not backed by data and science, that would disrupt the US aviation system and put us outside international standards.”

However, some industry leaders expressed disappointment with ICAO’s rejection of IATA's proposal. Captain Ado Sanusi of Aero Contractors told Aviation Metric he agreed with extending pilot careers given improvements in healthcare: “People are now doing preventive medicine rather than curative medicine. People live longer, and they are quite strong even at the age of 65,” he said.

He added: “I thinkIATA has a very good argument. I don’t know what ICAO’s reason is to reject it, but scientifically, of all major medical journals, the innovation over the past five decades has shown that people are living longer, healthier,[and] are more productive even after 60.(…) We want to keep the well-experienced pilots to make sure they train the incoming ones.”

In its submission to ICAO's assembly, IATA described increasing pilot retirement limits as a "cautious but reasonable step" for maintaining both operational viability and safety standards long-term.

Some countries already permit older commercial pilots under national regulations; Argentina allows them up to age 68 if there is more than one pilot on board—a change made by its National Civil Aviation Administration citing advances in medical technology and rising demand for air travel workforce capacity—and Japan permits domestic flying until a pilot's sixty-eighth birthday while adhering internationally to current ICAO limits.

Both nations report no increase in safety incidents among older flight crews since adopting higher limits domestically.

ICAO announced it will continue reviewing this policy through an evidence-based process guided by comprehensive data analysis focused on safety considerations before making any future changes regarding pilot retirement ages.