I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1761 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to raise the retirement age for 

pilots engaged in commercial aviation operations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 23, 2023 

Mr. NEHLS (for himself, Mr. BABIN, Mr. PFLUGER, Mr. MOORE of Alabama, 

Mr. FALLON, Mr. MEUSER, Mr. HUNT, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. ROUZER, Mrs. 

BOEBERT, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. DONALDS, Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas, 

Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. ROY, Mr. HIGGINS

of Louisiana, Mr. DAVIDSON, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. GIMENEZ, Mr. 

GOOD of Virginia, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. BURLISON, Mr. ROSENDALE, 

Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. MCCORMICK, and Mr. MILLS) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to raise the retirement age for pilots engaged in commercial aviation operations, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Let Experienced Pilots 

5 Fly Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCREASED RETIREMENT AGE FOR PILOTS. 

2 Section 44729 of title 49, United States Code, as 

3 amended by section 107 of division Q of the Consolidated 

4 Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117–328), is fur5 ther amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘§ 44729. Age standards for pilots 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A pilot may serve in multicrew 

8 covered operations until 67 years of age. 

9 ‘‘(b) COVERED OPERATIONS DEFINED.—In this sec10 tion, the term ‘covered operations’ means operations under 

11 part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, unless 

12 the operation takes place in— 

13 ‘‘(1) the territorial airspace of a foreign country 

14 where such operations are prohibited by the foreign 

15 country; or 

16 ‘‘(2) international airspace where such oper17 ations are not in compliance with the Annexes to the 

18 Convention on International Civil Aviation. 

19 ‘‘(c) REGULATIONS.—On and after the date of enact20 ment of the Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act of 2023, sub21 sections (d) and (e) of section 121.383 of title 14, Code 

22 of Federal Regulations, shall be deemed to have been 

23 amended to increase the age listed in such subsections to 

24 67 years of age. 

25 ‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) RETROACTIVITY.—A pilot who is over 65 

2 years of age on the date of enactment of this bill 

3 may return to service in multicrew covered oper4 ations until 67 years of age. 

5 ‘‘(2) PROTECTION FOR COMPLIANCE.—An ac6 tion taken in conformance with this section, taken in 

7 conformance with a regulation issued to carry out 

8 this section, or taken prior to the date of enactment 

9 of the Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act of 2023 in 

10 conformance with subsection (d) or (e) of section 

11 121.383 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (as 

12 in effect before such date), may not serve as a basis 

13 for liability or relief in a proceeding, brought under 

14 any employment law or regulation, before any court 

15 or agency of the United States or of any State or 

16 locality. 

17 ‘‘(e) AMENDMENTS TO LABOR AGREEMENTS AND

18 BENEFIT PLANS.—Any amendment to a labor agreement 

19 or benefit plan of an air carrier that is required to conform 

20 with the requirements of this section or a regulation issued 

21 to carry out this section, and is applicable to pilots rep22 resented for collective bargaining, shall be made by agree23 ment of the air carrier and the designated bargaining rep24 resentative of the pilots of the air carrier. 

25 ‘‘(f) MEDICAL STANDARDS AND RECORDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS AND STAND2 ARDS.—Except as provided by paragraph (2), a per3 son serving as a pilot for an air carrier engaged in 

4 covered operations shall not be subject to different 

5 medical standards, or different, greater, or more fre6 quent medical examinations, on account of age un7 less the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Ad8 ministration determines (based on data received or 

9 studies published after the date of enactment of the 

10 Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act of 2023) that dif11 ferent medical standards, or different, greater, or 

12 more frequent medical examinations, are needed to 

13 ensure an adequate level of safety in flight. 

14 ‘‘(2) DURATION OF FIRST-CLASS MEDICAL CER15 TIFICATE.—No person who has attained 60 years of 

16 age may serve as a pilot of an air carrier engaged 

17 in covered operations unless the person has a first18 class medical certificate. Such a certificate shall ex19 pire on the last day of the 6-month period following 

20 the date of examination shown on the certificate. 

21 ‘‘(g) SAFETY TRAINING.—Each air carrier engaged 

22 in covered operations shall continue to use pilot training 

23 and qualification programs approved by the Federal Avia24 tion Administration. 


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1 ‘‘(h) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 

3 Federal Aviation Administration shall submit to the ap4 propriate congressional committees a report on further in5 creasing the age limitation described in subsection (a).’’. 

Æ 


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