A Proposal for Fatigue-informed Rostering for Pilots Aged 55 and Over
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The debate over whether the commercial pilot retirement age should rise from 65 to 67 has reached an impasse. ICAO's 42nd Assembly rejected the increase, citing inconclusive science; in the United States, legislation to raise the limit is advancing through Congress with leadership support. Both camps argue over a single variable — the age number itself — while leaving unexamined how pilots are scheduled during the years they already fly. This paper proposes a third option: a voluntary programme allowing pilots aged 55 and over to hold rosters built around a consistent circadian pattern — day operations, night operations, or a defined mix — with no reduction in block hours. The physiological cost lies in oscillation between patterns rather than in night flying as such, and the evidence indicates that circadian tolerance declines well before the age of 60. The framework is deliberately unfinished. It is offered as groundwork for operators, unions and regulators to adapt, together with a bounded trial design intended to generate the operational data the debate currently lacks.
Author: Rodriguez, Jose Roberto
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7172324642
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