Res Communis

Pilot Retirement Age and Equal Protection

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

From Aviation Week:

Pilots: Age 60 Bar Violates Equal Protection

Jun 10, 2009

Michael Mecham mecham@aviationweek.com

Pilots caught in a time warp when Congress acted in November 2007 to extend the mandatory retirement age to 65 have asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to give them a day in court.

These pilots–225 of whom are part of the class action suit–had recently turned 60 when the law that raised the retirement age of pilots from 60 to 65 went into effect, and believe they should have been allowed to resume flying. A three-judge panel is expected to answer their appeal in six to eight weeks after hearing oral arguments June 9 in the case (Oksner v. Blakey).

The pilots, led by former Southwest Airlines pilot Michael Oksner, say Congress violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause when it wrote the law, and they should be allowed to fly until they turn 65. . . . [Full Story]