At What Age Must Air Traffic Controllers Retire?

As a high pressure job, air traffic controllers in many countries must retire well before the age of 60.

Only a few jobs in highly regulated industries have controlled working and retirement ages. Aviation is well known to be one of these, with pilots' retirement age closely controlled. Air traffic controllers working ages are also controlled, and retirement ages are generally lower than those of pilots.

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Retiring early

Unlike pilot's retirements ages, air traffic controller retirement ages are not set as a standard by the ICAO. Instead, countries are free to choose their own retirement age for controllers. In the US, these ages are mandated by the FAA, which gives a mandatory retirement age of 56. This compares to 60 or 65 for pilots.

Most countries follow similar limits as the FAA. In Europe, retirement ages vary a few years on either side of the US limits. The lowest retirement ages are in Belgium, where controllers retire at just 55, and France, where they retire at 57. In Ireland, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Austria and the United Kingdom, the retirement age is 60. The standard retirement age in Europe is 65. In Finland, controllers are allowed to continue working right up to 65. These European retirement ages are based on reporting in The Guardian.

A high-pressure role

It is not surprising that air traffic controllers have to retire early. The job requires excellent concentration and decision making, the ability to multi-task, good memory and visual skills.

While these skills do not disappear with age - and of course, everyone is different - it is generally agreed that abilities decrease with age. There is medical support for this. For example, a 2012 study by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) noted that the brain's capacity for memory, reasoning, and comprehension skills can start to deteriorate from age 45.

Such skills are tested as part of acceptance and training for the role, and it makes sense that they remain a focus. Simple Flying took a closer look at the requirements to work as a controller and how these vary by country.

The role is well rewarded. According to the FAA, the approximate median annual wage for air traffic controllers is USD 127,805.

Starting work early

As well as retirement age, starting age for controllers is mandated in some countries. In the US, the FAA states that controllers must start training by the age of 31. The only exception to this is for controllers retraining from a military air traffic controller role to a civilian one.

This limit is set for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it allows workers to complete the minimum number of working years needed for pension eligibility. More importantly, though, it is related to the idea that the older someone is when they start training, the less likely they will complete the training successfully.

This is supported by research the FAA carried out back in 1971 (you can read this if you are interested). This showed a clear negative correlation between age and training results, and results from this have no doubt also fed into the prescribed retirement age.