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March 31, 2004 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE S.W. PILOTS UNION TELLS
COURT
(WASHINGTON) – The Southwest Airline Pilots' Association (SWAPA), in a "friend of the court" brief, asks the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals here to approve age-60 rule exemptions sought by members of the Professional Pilots Federation (PPF). A 2004 study by the FAA's Civil Aeromedical Institute (CAMI) proves there isn't any more safety risk after age 59, SWAPA's "amicus" brief says. Michael Oksner, of Nassau Bay, Tex., one of 12 PPF members who asked the FAA for exemption from the age rule, is a SWAPA member who provided medical tests showing he's "aerobically exceptional…the equivalent of a 22-year-old," the brief adds. It backs a PPF brief that says the FAA's no-exemptions policy relies on a 1983 study by an accountant, Richard Golaszewski, that "misrepresented" pilot age-safety data. The old Golaszewski study fails to meet mandatory 2002 Office of Management and Budget guidelines under the Information Quality Act, PPF's brief says. It says the FAA decision falsely claimed that Dr. Frank Austin wasn't the Federal Air Surgeon when he admitted that the real reason for mandating retirement of airline pilots at age 60 was "economic," not medical. --MORE— S.W. PILOTS --------- 2 PPF's brief also says the FAA decision denying exemptions misrepresented the pilots' petition – falsely claiming that it alleged a current pilot shortage and that it offered no post-1994 evidence. The 81-page petition actually presented latest evidence of agency policies, industry practices, congressional inquiries, international developments and other current data. It also cited Supreme Court decisions – N.Y. Times v. U.S. (1971), the Pentagon Papers case, for the rule that government deception violates public policy; U.S. v. Nixon (1974), ruling that a federal agency should obey its own rules; and Bush v. Gore (2000), barring discriminatory treatment of persons similarly situated. "The FAA should end age bias, and exempt pilots who meet applicable medical, performance and safety standards after age 59," says Bert Yetman, PPF's president. The PPF petitioner-pilots are Oksner, who turns 60 on Apr. 4; Jeannie de Lamos, 62, of Honolulu; Rudy Mack, Sr., 63, of Flowery Beach, Ga., a leader of the Organziation of Black Airline Pilots (OBAP) mentoring future African American pilots; Alan De Sa, 62, of St. Denis, Md., a merchant ship captain who periodically goes on 450-mile bicycle rides; Paul Turner III, 57, of Charlotte, N.C.; Tom Gamble, 58, of Aptos, Calif.; Dallas Butler, 61, of Hollywood, Fla., a Caribbean pilot; Woodrow Hassinger, 63, of Alexandria, La., a Federal Marshals Service airline pilot; Philip Nash, of Denver, who turns 65 on Apr. 4; William Siegal, 61, of Kaneohi, Hawaii, who won an EEOC age discrimination lawsuit when he worked for Northwest Airlines in the 1990s; Arthur Ward, 66, of Plano, Tex., a Lear jet pilot; and Joe McCabe, 63, of Naples, Fla. --MORE-- S.W. PILOTS --------- 3 PPF is an organization of thousands of active and former commercial airline pilots opposed to the FAA's age 60 mandatory retirement policy. SWAPA's brief was filed Mar. 29 by Attorney David Grant McCracken of Dallas. The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the FAA, on Mar. 26 asked the court to extend the deadline for its reply brief from April 9 to April 23. The previously unpublicized PPF brief was filed Mar. 10 by Attorneys Anthony P.X. Bothwell of San Francisco and James R. Klimaski of Washington, D.C. Additional information on the case is available at www.ppf.org., www.age60rule.com, and www.apxbothwellcom. [Editors: Pilots and attorneys are available for interview.] # #
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