US Senate panel votes to boost FAA staffing, rejects hiking pilot retirement age

A US Senate committee on Thursday voted on legislation to boost safety inspector and air traffic controller staffing, but declined to endorse raising the airline pilot retirement age to 67 from 65. The US House of Representatives in July voted 351-69 on a sweeping bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that would hike the mandatory pilot retirement age to 67. The Senate Commerce Committee voted 14-13 to reject the retirement age hike after the FAA said earlier this week it would prefer additional research was conducted before Congress raised the age. Current international rules would still prevent pilots older than 65 from flying in most countries outside the United States. Differences between the $107b five-year FAA Senate bill and the House version will need to be resolved, but the push has gained momentum after the recent in-flight emergency involving an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 raised questions about FAA oversight of the aircraft maker. The Senate bill would also approve five additional round-trip flights from Reagan Washington National Airport sought by Delta Air Lines but opposed by other airlines. The Senate bill prohibits airlines from charging fees for families to sit together and requires airlines to accept vouchers and credits for at least five years, but did not adopt many stricter consumer rules sought by the Biden administration.<br/>