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Seven US unions urge senators not to raise pilot retirement age

Reported by Pilar Wolfsteller for Flight Global.

A group of US unions has come out against raising the pilot retirement age from 65 currently – an idea that has been circulating in order to help alleviate the current pilot shortage.

In a letter to US senators on 19 July, the seven unions deny a shortage even exists, calling it a “false narrative” created by airlines and an “excuse for some airlines to water down pilot training requirements and flight experience time”.

The letter’s signatories are: Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), Association of Flight Attendants, CWA (AFA-CWA), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) and the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU).

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