Alpa Pilots Against Age sixty

Change the Age 60 Rule!

Stephen G. Jacques
13351 Misty St.
Broomfield, CO 80020

June 28, 2001

An open letter to all concerned with airline safety, and basic justice:
(Sent to members of the US Congress Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, and to all US Senators)

The quote that appears below is an excerpt from a letter to numerous ALPA publications, and copied to me, from 36 year old Randolph F. Richmond. Randy is a first officer for America West Airlines, and an ALPA member in good standing.

" I received from my union a package that both saddened and enraged me. It encouraged me to voice my support for eliminating the ability for my fellow pilots to continue earning a living as an airline pilot. It told me the BOD's (Board of Director's) position (which prior to 1980 they opposed) and declared it cast in stone with no room for reasonable compromise. It gives me the specious argument that Age 60 is crucial to air safety. My union, whom I hold up as one of the most progressive safety-oriented organizations in aviation, has chosen to cloak their protection of preferred tax status in a safety veil, cheapening the generations of hard work that ALPA safety volunteers have done. "

I am also an ALPA (Air Line Pilots Association) member in good standing. My union is pulling out all stops to try to kill HR-448 and S-361, even though ALPA President Duane Woerth has stated "The Age 60 issue is a divisive one for our Association; I am well aware that we have members on both sides of the issue. " There are reportedly thousands of ALPA members that favor a change that would increase the mandatory age limit for pilots. ALPA does not represent us in this matter!

Our humble organization, APAAS (www.apaas.org ) was formed to unite ALPA pilots who
disagree with our union with regard to mandatory retirement age. We feel that while ALPA has traditionally been a force for good (not only for individual pilots, but also for aviation as a whole) it has veered tragically off course by blunting change with regard to the age 60 rule(FAR 121.383c).

ALPA's motivations are purely economical. Not only with regard to tax status, but especially with regard to the ability of members to move quickly to the (lucrative) captain's seat. Furthermore, ALPA has turned its back on a potential safety problem when it refuses to budge even an inch on this issue. The safety problem I speak of is the ever-increasing drain of experience in the cockpit.

When ALPA President Duane Woerth claims that he represents all (or even most) ALPA pilots on this issue, he is very wrong. When Captain Woerth claims that the Age 60 rule is a safety issue, he is very correct; we must increase the "experience pool" once again before a major aviation accident occurs. I am also a Pilot Instructor at United Airlines, and I am intimately familiar with the drying of the "experience pool", and how it has the dire potential to affect safety in our skies.

At many regional airlines, new captains take control of regional jets with less than 1 year with their company. At some major airlines, new captains take control of 737's with slightly over 2 years with their company. I am not, for a single second, insinuating that any of these people are incompetent. The airlines do a good job of hiring the best and the brightest. However, when the day turns rotten, and your Flight Manual no longer tells you the course of action (as was the case in Sioux City with United Captain Al Haynes), EXPERIENCE is what saves lives. Competence does not equal experience!

I have not mentioned how the suspicious FAR 121.383c came into being. I have not mentioned the conclusions of the HILTON study. I have not mentioned the 4-page letter that was sent from the EEOC to the FAA. I have not mentioned how many other industrialized countries throughout the world allow their pilots to fly to 65. These arguments, and many more, have been given time and time again.

When you consider the Age 60 rule, I ask that you look beyond ALPA's and the FAA's false statements with regard to FAR 121.383c and S-361, and consider the points that I have outlined. Please change the Age 60 rule.

Very truly yours,

Stephen G. Jacques
Co-Founder, APAAS
Pilot Instructor - United Airlines