House and Senate Reach Agreement on FAA Bill, Decides Against Increasing Pilot Retirement Age

House and Senate negotiators have announced an agreement on increasing air traffic controller staffing and funding to prevent runway close call incidents. However, they have decided not to raise the airline pilot retirement age from 65 to 67.

In July, the House voted 351-69 on a comprehensive bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which included raising the pilot retirement age to 67. In contrast, the Senate Commerce Committee voted in February against the retirement age increase.

Congress has extended the FAA authorization as they work on finalizing a new $105 billion, five-year deal. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the bipartisan proposal, which spans over 1,000 pages, later this week.