Opinion ID: 743573
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The rationality of age-based risk assessment

Text: 38 The Pilots assert that, in the course of defending the Age 60 Rule, the FAA drew several distinctions that reveal a  'basic inconsistency in its reasoning' by applying similar concepts differently in parallel situations. See Air Line Pilots Ass'n v. FAA, 3 F.3d 449, 453 (D.C.Cir.1993). In particular, the Pilots maintain that the FAA's treatment of younger pilots, of pilots who do not fly under Part 121, and of foreign pilots cannot be reconciled with its treatment of Part 121 pilots over the age of 60. 39
40 The Pilots claim that it is arbitrary and capricious for the FAA to ground older and more experienced pilots while allowing younger pilots to fly even though a younger pilot is more likely than an older pilot to cause an accident. To the commenters who argued that this is a contradiction, the FAA responded (in essence) that, however valuable experience may be, it is no match for a heart attack. Implicit in the FAA's decision is the view that a 40-year-old pilot with 15 years of experience is a safer bet than a 61-year-old pilot with 36 years of experience. The 61-year-old pilot's additional experience is outweighed, that is, by the heightened probability that he will lose his ability to fly safely--whether through gradual wear and tear or a sudden episode--and the disastrous consequences if he does. The FAA also maintains that the Pilots' argument is fundamentally flawed because it assumes that the FAA based its decision to retain the Age 60 Rule solely upon accident data. Accident data are one consideration, among many, that influenced the FAA's decision to select age 60 as the cut off; other data, such as the percentage of pilots suffering sudden heart failure, or a significant loss of vision or hearing, were also considered, and those data provide ample grounds for drawing a distinction between younger and older pilots. Indeed, according to the agency, all studies of the subject come to the conclusion that some mandatory retirement age for pilots is appropriate. The studies diverge only with regard to the precise age at which retirement should be mandated. 41 Finally, the FAA questions the assumption, implicit in the Pilots' argument, that relatively inexperienced pilots are replacing more experienced pilots as a result of the Age 60 Rule. Young pilots are rarely if ever given command of an aircraft before they have had significant experience. Older pilots, therefore, are typically replaced by pilots who have substantial experience as pilots in the first officer position, and often as flight engineers before that.We conclude that the FAA adequately justified its decision to distinguish between younger pilots and those over the age of 60. The agency reasonably concluded that the risk inherent in allowing an older pilot to fly outweighs the benefit of having a more experienced person in command. In contrast, the risk of allowing a younger pilot to serve in a noncommand role is negligible while the benefit of allowing him to gain experience is high. 42
43 The Pilots observe that the FAA sometimes will allow a younger pilot with a serious medical problem to continue flying even if his problem is characterized by a high rate of recurrence. It is arbitrary and capricious, the Pilots assert, to forbid an apparently healthy pilot over the age of 60 to fly because of the risk that he might have a first heart attack while, at the same time, allowing a younger pilot to fly in spite of the dramatically higher statistical risk that he might suffer a second heart attack. 44 The FAA defends its policy of granting exemptions to pilots who have experienced a serious medical problem on the ground that it does so only when the risk of a recurrence can be assessed adequately. A known condition can not only be monitored but also, as in the case of alcoholism and some heart conditions, controlled: 45 When a special issuance medical certificate is granted, the condition in question has been clearly identified, and the agency has been able to develop a means of assessment and surveillance specially designed to demonstrate the individual's capabilities and to identify any adverse changes. If that is not possible, certification is not granted. 46 60 Fed.Reg. at 65,984. Meanwhile, the subtler forms of physical and mental decline that may accompany aging often cannot be detected, let alone monitored or controlled. 47 In sum, the FAA determined that there are techniques for monitoring the health of pilots with certain medical conditions but that there is not yet any way of predicting whether and when an older pilot is likely to develop a condition with a potentially serious impact upon his ability to fly an airplane safely. This difference between the two groups is fully adequate to warrant the distinction that the FAA has drawn between them. 48
49 The Pilots next assert that the FAA has applied the Age 60 Rule arbitrarily without regard for either the type of aircraft being flown or the type of service being provided. Thus, the Rule applies to cargo carriers, where no passengers are at risk, but not to corporate aircraft and air taxis, where passengers are at risk. The Pilots claim that this is utterly irrational. 50 The FAA responds that the distinction between common carriers of passengers and cargo, which are subject to the Age 60 Rule, and private carriers of passengers and cargo, which are not, is found in the governing statute. The Congress directed the FAA to consider the differences between air transportation, defined as the transportation of passengers or property by a common carrier, 49 U.S.C. §§ 40102(a)(5), (24), & (25), and other air commerce. See 49 U.S.C. § 44701(d)(1)(B). The Congress also specifically required the FAA to consider the duty of air carriers, defined elsewhere as common carriers, 49 U.S.C. §§ 40102(a)(2), (5), (24), & (25), to provide service with the highest possible degree of safety in the public interest. See 49 U.S.C. § 44701(d)(1)(A). Accordingly, the agency considers it appropriate to regulate common carriers more stringently than it regulates other air commerce. Insofar as that leaves corporate aircraft and air taxis beyond the reach of the Rule, the distinction is not unreasonable, says the agency: corporate pilots do not serve the public as do common carriers; and while air taxis do serve the public, unlike commuter airlines their safety record has not been a source of concern for the FAA or the NTSB, perhaps because their operations--typically involving only a few short haul passengers and less sophisticated equipment--place lesser demands upon their pilots. 51 We conclude that the FAA adequately explained its decision to apply the Age 60 Rule to pilots of commuter aircraft but not to pilots of corporate aircraft and air taxis. The Congress clearly left the FAA free to regulate corporate aircraft operations at less than the highest possible degree of safety. See Quesada, 276 F.2d at 898 (The Administrator did not act unreasonably in placing greater limitations on the certificates of pilots flying planes carrying large numbers of passengers who have no opportunity to select a pilot of their own choice. The Federal Aviation Act contemplates just such distinctions between the regulations governing 'air commerce' and those governing other air transportation). 52 As for excluding air taxi operations while extending the Rule to commuter operations, we accept the FAA's point that the NTSB had asked the agency specifically to consider extending the Rule to commuter operations. 60 Fed.Reg. at 16,235. In responding to the NTSB's request, the FAA was not obliged--contrary to our colleague in dissent, see dissent at 6--to consider whether the Rule might further improve safety if applied to still other operations. Nor, we note, could such an extension of the Rule in any way benefit the petitioners; indeed, as the Seventh Circuit has observed, it would foreclose them from a source of post-60 employment. See Starr v. FAA, 589 F.2d 307, 313 (1978). 53
54 Finally, the Pilots claim that it is arbitrary and capricious for the FAA to allow a foreign carrier operating in U.S. airspace to employ pilots who are over the age of 60 while prohibiting a U.S. common carrier from employing even the healthiest of pilots beyond that age. The FAA responds that as a signatory of the Chicago Convention, see 61 Stat. 1180, T.I.A.S. 1591 (December 7, 1944) the United States is required to recognize as valid any license issued by any other signatory, provided that the requirements underlying such licenses are equal to or above the minimum standards which may be established from time to time pursuant to this convention. See 61 Stat. at 1189; see also 49 U.S.C. §§ 40105(b)(1)(A) & (B) (FAA must act consistently with obligations of the United States Government under an international agreement, and shall consider applicable laws and requirements of a foreign country). The standards that have been established under the Chicago Convention permit (but do not require) a country to allow commercial pilots to fly beyond the age of 60. For this reason, the FAA maintains, it must as a matter of law allow foreign pilots to fly notwithstanding the Age 60 Rule. 55 We agree with the FAA that the mandate of § 40105 requires this inconsistency in the treatment of domestic and foreign carriers and their pilots. Perhaps, however, experience with foreign pilots over the age of 60 flying commercial aircraft in U.S. airspace will provide the FAA with the comparative data it needs in order to evaluate empirically the continuing need for the existing rule.