Jasper Packard: “There is nothing magic about the age 60. It is strictly an arbitrary age. We can pick 59, we can pick 50 or 70. It is…”

“There is nothing magic about the age 60. It is strictly an arbitrary age. We can pick 59, we can pick 50 or 70. It is arbitrary. People are living longer and more productive lives. All common carrier planes have to have at least two pilots. A heart attack will not cause the plane to go down and they also, most of them, have a flight engineer. No other profession requires the termination of their careers at age 60, not the railroad engineer, not a bus driver, not a truck driver, not a physician, a nurse. Age 60 is not consistent with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act which states that ability, not age, should determine an individual's qualifications for getting and keeping a job. These pilots are willing to subject themselves to rigorous medical or physical tests in order to keep flying. That should be what determines whether they are qualified to fly or not is if they are physically capable of doing so. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.”