Clarification On Commercial Flying

Stephen Poole

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OK, I'm confused. I know that there's an age limit for Airline Pilots (65, as I understand it). But what about someone who just wants to fly for business purposes, requiring a commercial license?

Google searches aren't terribly helpful. If you enter something like, "age limit for commercial pilot," it invariably sends me to a dozen pages about Airline pilots. I have no desire to fly for an airline. That's for younger bucks and buckettes, not me. (Although I would no doubt make the uniform look ... smashing.)

To clarify, my goal is to retire, make it to CFI and teach others. For that, I need a commercial rating. IS there an age limit? Thanks!
 
As long as you can hold a second class medical and fit to fly there is no age limit.
 
OK, I'm confused. I know that there's an age limit for Airline Pilots (65, as I understand it). But what about someone who just wants to fly for business purposes, requiring a commercial license?

Google searches aren't terribly helpful. If you enter something like, "age limit for commercial pilot," it invariably sends me to a dozen pages about Airline pilots. I have no desire to fly for an airline. That's for younger bucks and buckettes, not me. (Although I would no doubt make the uniform look ... smashing.)

To clarify, my goal is to retire, make it to CFI and teach others. For that, I need a commercial rating. IS there an age limit? Thanks!

There's no age limit for any pilot certificate (err it's not a rating!). The age 65 limitation is for required crewmembers in part 121 operations. Avoid the airlines and you can fly for compensation as long as you can hold a medical.

§121.383(e)
No pilot may serve as a pilot in operations under this part if that person has reached his or her 65th birthday.
 
No age limit on part 91 that
As long as you can hold a second class medical and fit to fly there is no age limit.

And not even a need for a second class to be a CFI.
 
OK, I'm confused. I know that there's an age limit for Airline Pilots (65, as I understand it). But what about someone who just wants to fly for business purposes, requiring a commercial license?

Google searches aren't terribly helpful. If you enter something like, "age limit for commercial pilot," it invariably sends me to a dozen pages about Airline pilots. I have no desire to fly for an airline. That's for younger bucks and buckettes, not me. (Although I would no doubt make the uniform look ... smashing.)

To clarify, my goal is to retire, make it to CFI and teach others. For that, I need a commercial rating. IS there an age limit? Thanks!

Age limit applies for Part 121 operations (https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/121.383). You can fly all other commercial operations.
 
§121.383(e)
No pilot may serve as a pilot in operations under this part if that person has reached his or her 65th birthday.
Makes you wonder what the purpose of having a mandatory retirement at 65 is for. There’s plenty of 65 year olds who are in better shape than those in their 40’s, just as competent too.
 
Makes you wonder what the purpose of having a mandatory retirement at 65 is for. There’s plenty of 65 year olds who are in better shape than those in their 40’s, just as competent too.

you saw the Colgan backlash. Imagine having two 70 year olds and a 737 going down for reasons not even their fault. It's all political "protecting the public."
 
you saw the Colgan backlash. Imagine having two 70 year olds and a 737 going down for reasons not even their fault. It's all political "protecting the public."
Yeah. I guarantee that’s the bulk of it. Too bad.
 
Makes you wonder what the purpose of having a mandatory retirement at 65 is for. There’s plenty of 65 year olds who are in better shape than those in their 40’s, just as competent too.

Don't get me started on that. I've met 40-year-olds whom I wouldn't trust to drive a riding lawnmower, much less pilot any plane ever made. I've also met 80-year-olds whom I would trust implicitly.
 
Go fly part 135, leave the part 121 for the kids coming up in aviation.
 
Makes you wonder what the purpose of having a mandatory retirement at 65 is for. There’s plenty of 65 year olds who are in better shape than those in their 40’s, just as competent too.

One has to wonder, if an 80 year old can pass a 1st class medical without any waivers but still can't fly part 121, does it mean that the medical exam is broke, or the part 121 rules are broke?
 
One has to wonder, if an 80 year old can pass a 1st class medical without any waivers but still can't fly part 121, does it mean that the medical exam is broke, or the part 121 rules are broke?
Well, I’m not necessarily saying that I would feel comfortable with an elderly individual (80+) flying an airliner, but 65 just seems too young to force retirement on folks, if they’re still in good working order.
 
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I suspect if the maximum 121 age was based on the ability to pass a medical, there might be a few AMEs who'd specialize in making sure the "die-at-your-desk-retirement-strategy" pilots are able to keep their job. The nature of 121 ops, and tendency of the unions to fight hardest for the most tenured, would put a lot of first officers (and captains for that matter) in a difficult position of having to fly with someone who's reasonably healthy, but not quite on top of their game. It's a slow process, but it doesn't delay forever. You might be able to fake it at the Dr.'s office, or even in the sim, but eventually someone is going to take notice and have to have that diccukt conversation.

Plus, the younger guys want your job.
 
As long as you can hold a second class medical and fit to fly there is no age limit.

Since he said instructing... he doesn’t even need the second class.

Just a third to teach people who can’t be PIC, and no medical at all to teach people who can act as PIC already.

One way to look at it is, when teaching, you’re not exercising the Commercial certificate. But you do have to have it with you. That’s just to make it so you can’t teach if they yank your pilot cert for some reason.
 
I suspect if the maximum 121 age was based on the ability to pass a medical, there might be a few AMEs who'd specialize in making sure the "die-at-your-desk-retirement-strategy" pilots are able to keep their job. The nature of 121 ops, and tendency of the unions to fight hardest for the most tenured, would put a lot of first officers (and captains for that matter) in a difficult position of having to fly with someone who's reasonably healthy, but not quite on top of their game. It's a slow process, but it doesn't delay forever. You might be able to fake it at the Dr.'s office, or even in the sim, but eventually someone is going to take notice and have to have that diccukt conversation.

Plus, the younger guys want your job.


If keeping young pilots employed was the motivation for the age 65 rule, then that is understandable. But I fail to see what aspect of aging makes a pilot not be on top of their game. As it has been said many times, there are old pilots, and bold pilots, but not both. This is just my anecdotal observation, but some of the most outrageous part 121 pilot-induced crashes were under the command of relatively young crew - AF447, DL5191... Capt. Sully, on the other hand, was 59.
 
If keeping young pilots employed was the motivation for the age 65 rule, then that is understandable. But I fail to see what aspect of aging makes a pilot not be on top of their game. As it has been said many times, there are old pilots, and bold pilots, but not both. This is just my anecdotal observation, but some of the most outrageous part 121 pilot-induced crashes were under the command of relatively young crew - AF447, DL5191... Capt. Sully, on the other hand, was 59.

Probably some nerd somewhere with no real world experience in anything put together some graph of age-induced reaction time vs age induced health vs experience-related decision making and compared it against some arbitrary mean, and said "hey 65 is the number"
 
Since he said instructing... he doesn’t even need the second class.

Just a third to teach people who can’t be PIC, and no medical at all to teach people who can act as PIC already.
Almost. The CFI needs a medical if acting in any required flight crewmember capacity, not just PIC. That means, ferisntance, no putting a pilot under the hood, even if the pilot is qualified, competent and current to act as PIC.*


*I like that example mostly because it's somewhat weird to think a CFI can give recurrent training to a current instrument pilot in the clouds, but not under the hood.
 
I do remember the instructor who taught me to fly was 76 at the time. He got an offer to fly a local traffic patrol plane and the insurance company nixed it because of his age. He was still flying and teaching at least 6 years later. I learned he died in March of 2017 at the age of 91.
 
I do remember the instructor who taught me to fly was 76 at the time. He got an offer to fly a local traffic patrol plane and the insurance company nixed it because of his age. He was still flying and teaching at least 6 years later. I learned he died in March of 2017 at the age of 91.

Awesome..!!!! I just hope to make it to 76 flying or not.

A dear old friend lived to be 88. He was a B-17 commander then a B-29 commander back in WWII. His last flight was about 15 or 16 days before he died. He did not have a medical, but whenever we went somewhere we would take him with us and he would sit left seat and fly, no help from the right seat.
 
Not if all he wants to do is CFI.
There’s been two folks already clarify that. Does it boost your ego to look like a genius and point it out a third time? Just curious.
 
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