Numbers from the Allied Pilots Association show that 461 pilots retired in 2011, with the bulk of them leaving between mid-summer and late fall.

You could say that all of them retired early, since none had reached the mandatory retirement age set by the Federal Aviation Administration, age 65. That won’t come until December 2012, five years after the FAA extended the retirement age from 60.

The airline saw 129 pilots retire as of Sept. 1, 111 on Oct. 1 and 60 on Nov. 1. In other words, three out of every four pilots who retired in 2011 left during the three months leading up to American’s Nov. 29 bankruptcy filing.

In December, 16 pilots retired, and Jan. 1 saw another 16 leave.

As to the mandatory retirements, here are the number of pilots who hit age 65 each year through the end of the pilots currently working for American Airlines, from a recent APA news digest:


Year Pilots Year Pilots
2012 5 2022 662
2013 83 2023 710
2014 99 2024 725
2015 129 2025 729
2016 156 2026 716
2017 238 2027 597
2018 324 2028 515
2019 437 2029 477
2020 541 2030 416
2021 598 2031 437

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