Oh pilots, where art thou?

Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate proposed new legislation yesterday that would raise the mandatory commercial pilot retirement age from 65 to 67, with pilots above 65 subject to medical recertification every six months.

If enacted, it would be the second change to the pilot age law since it was first established in 1960. Congress previously raised the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65 in 2007.

✈️ Driving Flying the move… An ongoing pilot shortage, which forced many US airlines to cut back on summer flight schedules despite strong consumer demand for air travel. And it doesn’t appear to be getting better anytime soon.

• Over the next four years, roughly 14,000 US pilots will turn 65 and be forced to retire under current laws, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the bill’s sponsor.
• An additional 14,500 pilot job openings are projected each year for the next decade, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but the FAA only issues an average of 6,500 new pilot certificates annually… and its training programs have actually seen a decrease in applicants since the pandemic began.

🚫 Zoom out: Similar staffing shortages in Europe have also led to flight cancellations and capacity limits, most notably at London’s Heathrow Airport, the busiest place for international air travel in the world.

+In the know: Since May 27, roughly ¼ of all flights by US-based carriers have been canceled or delayed, per flight-tracker FlightAware, up from ⅕ of flights over a similar period in 2019.