Pete Buttigieg says airlines can't 'keep the Baby Boomer generation in the cockpit indefinitely' to prevent a pilot labor shortage

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg testifies at a Senate Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies hearing on the 2023 budget for the Department of Transportation, in Washington DC, on April 28, 2022.
Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images

Secretary Buttigieg said he doesn't support raising the retirement age of US commercial pilots.
When asked about it on Fox News, Buttigieg said the nation needs a "new generation" of pilots.
He said adding more "qualified" fliers will help combat shortages caused by Baby Boomers retiring.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Sunday that US airlines will need a "new generation of qualified pilots" to fill a potential labor gap caused caused by Baby Boomers retiring from the profession.

During an interview with "Fox News Sunday," host Mike Emanuel asked Buttigieg if he would support raising the retirement age of commercial pilots to 67, up from the current age of 65 set by a 2007 law passed by Congress.

Emanuel cited a June report from NBC News detailing that by 2029, no one from the Baby Boomer generation — people born between 1946 and 1964 — will be able to legally fly a commercial aircraft, causing a possible labor shortage.

"These retirement ages are there for a reason and the reason is safety," Buttigieg said. "I'm not going to be on board with anything that could compromise safety. Now, what's clearly the case is we need to cultivate, train, and support a new generation of qualified pilots."

He continued: "The answer is not to keep the Baby Boomer generation in the cockpit indefinitely. The answer is to make sure that we have as many and as good pilots ready to take their place — to have a stronger pipeline."

To do so, Buttigieg said his department is backing Federal Aviation Administration programs that support high school and university curriculum that helps students get into the aviation industry.

"Ultimately, it'll be for the airlines and those employers to hire and retain excellent talent," Buttigieg said, adding that it's "an issue we're seeing across the aviation sector — across the transportation sector at large — the importance of having competitive pay, great job quality, so we can bring in and keep the people that are going to be needed to power America's transportation sector."

Buttigieg's remarks come as airports and airlines around the country — and the world — have managed a slew of flight cancellations and delays, as well as chaos at baggage claims and security checkpoints over the last few months.

Travel disruptions have been blamed, in part, on labor shortages and staffing issues at major airports and across various airlines.

June was a particularly bad month for travel in the US, according to data from flight-tracker site FlightAware. In the days leading up to the Juneteenth holiday weekend, nearly a third of all scheduled flights within, into, or leaving the US experienced a delayed arrival.

Since then, flight cancellations and delays have calmed slightly.

"We've seen some improvement over the course of this summer, but still not at an acceptable level in terms of performance, cancellation, and delays," Buttigieg said on Sunday.

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