Referee: Air Canada pilots cannot fly beyond the age of 65

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A Canadian Labor Code arbitrator ruled that pilots over 65 are too old to fly because more than 5% of the time they cross into US airspace, where retirement rules are different.

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The ruling was made after a 65-year-old Air Canada pilot defied mandatory retirement rules, according to Blacklock Reporter .

Referee Eli Gedalof said it was unreasonable to keep senior pilots employed despite the fact that there is no mandatory retirement age under the Aeronautics Act.

“Air Canada cannot reasonably accommodate pilots flying beyond the International Civil Aviation Organization limit of 65 years without undue hardship,” Gedalof wrote.

The airline noted that the US has adopted the COA rule for retirement at age 65 that was introduced in 2014.

“Of Air Canada’s flight routes in 2018, all flew over US airspace or required an alternate US airport more than 5% of the time,” Gedalof wrote.

“In other words, a pilot over 65 would have to be banned from flying that route at least 5% of the time and be replaced by another pilot.”

Previously, the CAO had proposed that a pilot over the age of 60 be allowed if the co-pilot was under the age of 60 for international flights.

Air Canada said in its presentation to the referee that its flight crews were, in fact, aged and that 161 pilots turned 65 between 2019 and 2021.