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The FAA does not have an age limit for pilots flying under Part 135 regulations, however ICAO specifies an age limit of 65 (with other restrictions after the age of 60).

The NBAA has a nice Age 60 Briefing which discusses this, but at the end they say:

Most of the States that have authorized their pilots to fly as pilot-in-command in commercial air transport operations after they reach the age specified in 2.1.10.1 also authorize pilots holding a license issued or validated by another States to fly in their own airspace under the same condition.

However, ICAO does not collect information on States authorizing pilots to fly in their airspace after reaching the age of 60 and cannot provide information on the subject. Pilots seeking such information must contact individual Civil Aviation Authorities.

Is there any resource available which covers which countries allow pilots to fly over the age of 65? For instance, I know that Europe does not allow it, but that some others do. I am particularly curious the countries close to the US, such as Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, and those in the Caribbean, Central and South America.

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    $\begingroup$ Getting up there, are we? :) $\endgroup$
    – CGCampbell
    Commented Jun 3, 2015 at 18:52
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    $\begingroup$ @CGCampbell Lol, actually no. But I want to know what my options are if I hire someone who is. ;-) $\endgroup$
    – Lnafziger
    Commented Jun 3, 2015 at 20:30
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    $\begingroup$ Are you looking for a list? Or what happens to a 70 year old flying into a country with the age 65 limit? $\endgroup$
    – Ben
    Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 10:16
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    $\begingroup$ @ben I'm looking for a list or resource that can be used to determine if a particular country applies the age 60 rule, thanks. $\endgroup$
    – Lnafziger
    Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 16:42

2 Answers 2

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Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Russian Federation, Senegal, and Ukraine

According to a 2006 ICAO report (mentioned also in this presentation) (emphasis mine),

Nine States (Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Russian Federation, Senegal, and Ukraine) have no upper age limit, whereas fifty-five have an upper age limit higher than 60 years, ranging from 62 to 72 years.

This, of course, applies only to domestic flights, not international flights, as I imagine you have already read about:

The ICAO Council adopted on 10 March 2006 an amendment to Annex 1 — Personnel Licensing that increases by five years the upper age limit for commercial pilots operating two-pilot aircraft, subject to conditions. The new provisions become applicable on 23 November 2006 and read as follows:

2.1.10.1 A Contracting State, having issued pilot licences, shall not permit the holders thereof to act as pilot-in-command of an aircraft engaged in international commercial air transport operations if the licence holders have attained their 60th birthday or, in the case of operations with more than one pilot where the other pilot is younger than 60 years of age, their 65th birthday.

2.1.10.2 Recommendation.— A Contracting State, having issued pilot licences, should not permit the holders thereof to act as co-pilot of an aircraft engaged in international commercial air transport operations if the licence holders have attained their 65th birthday.

Note that the ICAO typically gives constituents recommendations, not necessarily enforceable laws. Those are generally up to the countries themselves, which is why these nine are able to not have upper age limits.

I wanted some confirmation on the original list from something more recent, so I checked out a few sources. I was only able to find information for two.

Australia

From the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, it is noted that the ICAO age limits for pilot in command (PIC) and co-pilot are not relevant in Australian domestic flights, and seems to imply that age does not affect the ability to hold a pilot's license.

Canada

The best I could find was this article from The Globe and Mail, originally from 2009 but possibly updated in 2012.

There is no upper age limit to acquire or renew a pilot licence in Canada - all you have to do is log the hours, complete the training and pass the medical exams, when necessary.

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  • $\begingroup$ This is good information, but covers only a small part of what I am looking for. $\endgroup$
    – Lnafziger
    Commented Sep 14, 2015 at 16:10
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Quote from the source:

Under international aviation regulations, there must be at least one pilot under 60 in the cockpit at all times, and pilots over 65 cannot hold the captain position.

Specifically for Canada:

A new collective agreement, imposed by an arbitrator, sets out specific positions that pilots over 60 and over 65 can hold on Air Canada’s aircraft.

From the sources Here and Here, its safe to say that the maximum age of 60 is applicable for some operations and for some it is 65. (For any airline operations to United States)

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  • $\begingroup$ Hi Vivian, thanks for the answer, but that ruling only covers the US side of things, (and doesn't even apply to most 135 operations because of the type of aircraft that it applies to). I'm specifically looking for which countries have this rule and which ones don't though. $\endgroup$
    – Lnafziger
    Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 17:49
  • $\begingroup$ It applies to all of the "operations to US" from the aforementioned countries, and a fore mentioned countries, and operations to and fro from canada $\endgroup$
    – Victor Juliet
    Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 20:24
  • $\begingroup$ Your second link explains that it only applies to scheduled operations and to non-scheduled operations on aircraft with more than 30 seats or greater than 7,500 lb. payload capacity. What about outside of those situations (i.e. non-scheduled operations on 12 seat aircraft with only a 5,000 payload capacity)? $\endgroup$
    – Lnafziger
    Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 20:28
  • $\begingroup$ Edit the question specifically to a given operation dude :p $\endgroup$
    – Victor Juliet
    Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 20:31
  • $\begingroup$ Well, it is a general question and you only answered part of it is what I am trying to point out... Actually, in reference to your last sentence, you took your source out of context and make it sound like that always applies when it doesn't. $\endgroup$
    – Lnafziger
    Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 20:31

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