Pilots ejected from the cockpits of major airlines for reaching their maximum age limits are benefiting from a surge in start-up airlines and fleet expansions around the world.

New airlines are recruiting from the ranks of vintage and new pilots alike to get their operations off the ground, says Noirin Guinan, MD for Wynnwith Engineering’s Transport Group. The growth in airline crew recruitment is so significant that Wynnwith’s flight-crew division placements have doubled in recent months, and “look to increase significantly over the next six months,” Guinan said.

Upper age limits for flight crews on UK airlines have long been hotly debated. “Some airlines retire pilots very quickly,” Guinan says. At British Airways, pilots are retired at 55, for instance. In the current absence of ageism laws in the UK, flight crews dismissed because of age have waged legal battles on other grounds.

For example, claimants in the case of Cross and others v British Airways plc argue that the age limit of 60 allowed by their former employer, British Caledonian Airways, should have been continued under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations when BA bought that airline. To date, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled against the claimants, but they have applied for permission to go to the Court of Appeal, says solicitor Sophie Whitbread of Charles Russell, who represents the claimants.

Whitbread told Recruiter that once age discrimination legislation is in place – proposed for October 2006 – airlines will likely rethink age limits and consider individuals rather than a particular age group. One option is to put in place health checks every six months once a crew member reaches a certain age.

Adding to Wynnwith’s success in aviation is a new contract as a preferred supplier to Servisair, the aviation services provider. The technical and engineering recruiter will initially provide up to 150 contingent staff to fill in the gaps of seasonal fluctuations and an undisclosed number of fixed-term contractors for terminal support. It is also recruiting 40 permanent staff. Most of the requirements are based at London Gatwick Airport.