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LAW OFFICES OF ANTHONY P. X. BOTHWELL March 9, 2005 Media Advisory AIRLINE PILOTS FILING AGE 60 PETITION WITH U.S. SUPREME COURT Editors and News Directors: (WASHINGTON) – Twelve veteran commercial airline pilots will file a petition for certiorari on Monday, March 14, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their request for exemption from an Federal Aviation Administration rule that grounds them after age 59. The pilots' appeal, from a December 14 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in Butler et al. v. FAA, comes at a time of mounting opposition to the FAA's so-called "age 60 rule." Days ago, it was reported that Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) Local Executive Council 34, at San Francisco International Airport, representing 20 percent of all active United Airlines pilots, passed a resolution calling for an end to the rigid retirement rule. ALPA, the AFL-CIO pilots' union, now is polling members nationwide on whether to call for an end to the FAA age policy. The independent Southwest Airline Pilots Association (SWAPA), representing pilots for the nation's fourth largest airline, filed a "friend of the court" brief in the D.C. Circuit Court in favor of the petitioners' request for exemptions. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) officials, at a meeting in Montreal February 11, reported that more than 80 percent of countries responding to a worldwide survey said they oppose an age-60 cut-off for airline pilots. The UN agency's Air Navigation Commission endorsed a 2004 study by the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA) that found no added safety risk after age 59. Europe, Japan, Australia and other air powers do not impose an age 60 rule on pilots. The pilots petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court include Jeannie de Lamos, 63, of Honolulu; Rudy Mack, Sr., 64, of Flowery Branch, Ga., a leader of the Organziation of Black Airline Pilots (OBAP), which provides mentoring for young African American future pilots; Alan De Sa, 63, of St. Denis, Md., a merchant ship captain who regularly goes on 450-mile bicycle rides; Paul Turner III, 58, of Charlotte, N.C.; and Michael L. Oksner, 60, of Nassau Bay, Tex., a recently retired Southwest Airlines captain. Also, Tom Gamble, 60, of Saratoga, Calif.; Dallas Butler, 61, of Hollywood, Fla., a Caribbean pilot; William Siegel, 61, of Miami, who won an EEOC age discrimination lawsuit when he worked for Northwest Airlines; Woodrow Hassinger, 64, of Queen Creek, Ariz., a Federal Marshals Service airline pilot; Philip Nash, 66, of Denver; Arthur Ward, 67, of Plano, Tex., a Lear jet pilot; and Joe McCabe, 67, of Naples, Fla. They originally asked the FAA in June 10, 2002 to exempt them from the age 60 rule, under a federal law that allows such exemptions "in the public interest." The FAA delayed a decision for 16 months, finally turning them down on October 6, 2003. The agency has never granted an exemption since it initiated the age rule in 1959. The pilots' petition cites internal agency documents in which senior FAA officials admitted the age 60 policy never had any medical or safety basis, but was meant as an economic favor to airlines. Many airline executives today favor letting qualified pilots continue flying after their 60th birthday. The 12 petitioners are members of the Professional Pilots Federation (PPF), an organization of several thousand commercial airline pilots, which is sponsoring their case. The president of PPF is Bert Yetman of Grapevine, Tex. Their attorney, Tony Bothwell of San Francisco, will be in Washington March 9-14. Growing opposition to the FAA's age 60 policy has been reported in recent articles in the Wall Street Journal and CQ Weekly, a TIME magazine spread, a recent KCBS talk show, and a WNBC-TV feature. Interviews and photo opportunities with any of the petitioners, or with their attorney or PPF officials, may be arranged through Law Offices of Anthony P. X. Bothwell, telephone (415) 370-9571, or by contacting PPF President Bert Yetman, telephone (817) 481-5318.
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