Sponsors (4)
Raises pilot maximum age for covered multi-crew operations to 67 and allows eligible carriers to elect a 70-year cap with conditions and medical/training limits.
The bill extends employment opportunities for many older pilots and reduces regulatory/legal disruption while keeping FAA training oversight, but it raises safety and fairness concerns for some passengers and pilots and may delay stricter medical screening.
Older pilots (ages 65–67 automatically, and up to 70 if the carrier elects) can continue flying in covered multicrew operations, preserving jobs, income, and operational continuity for pilots and air carriers.
FAA-approved training and qualification programs remain in place and under FAA oversight, supporting ongoing pilot proficiency and operational safety.
Carriers and pilots are protected from liability for actions taken under prior or conforming regulations, reducing legal risk and potential costs for airlines and employees.
Passengers and the traveling public face potential increased safety risk if age-related medical or cognitive decline among older pilots (up to 67–70) is underestimated or not fully screened.
FAA oversight could be constrained because the bill restricts changes to age-based medical standards unless the FAA demonstrates necessity, potentially delaying implementation of stricter medical screening.
Some pilots over 65 who are not grandfathered will be barred from serving, causing job loss and income disruption for those older pilots.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Official title: Amend title 49, United States Code, to raise the retirement age for pilots engaged in commercial aviation operations, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 30, 2026 by Lindsey O. Graham · Last progress April 30, 2026
Raises the maximum age for pilots in certain multi-crew airline operations from 65 to 67 and lets qualifying air carriers opt into a 70-year cap for specified operations after giving one year’s written notice. It preserves existing training, qualification, and medical-certificate regimes (with a new 6-month validity rule for first-class medical certificates for pilots 60+) while protecting currently employed older pilots, limiting retroactive effects, requiring union agreement for collective-bargaining changes, and restricting new age-based medical differentials unless FAA finds post-enactment evidence justifying them.