Those two attitudes are colliding in the halls of Congress as lawmakers consider raising or eliminating the mandatory retirement age of commercial pilots from 60 years of age.

The Federal Aviation Administration has had the Age 60 Rule in place since 1959. With new pressures on airline pension plans a growing problem, many industry leaders are asking lawmakers to revisit the rule.

The issue picked up some steam in May when Herb Kelleher, the 74-year-old chairman of Southwest Airlines, appeared in a Capitol Hill news conference with 30 current and retired pilots and proclaimed that the Age 60 Rule is "a moral issue."

"We have a bunch of splendid pilots right behind me who would be perfectly safe and totally competent if they were able to fly in our cockpits today," Bloomberg News reported Kelleher as saying.

Proponents of the Age 60 Rule say that the risks of incapacitation increase with age and that medical science has yet to come up with tests that can identify pilots whose skills are likely to decline below an acceptable level.

But opponents say that 60 is an arbitrary age and that it doesn't make sense to automatically boot experienced pilots from the cockpit if they are still capable of flying safely.

Somewhat surprisingly, the two major pilot unions are not on the same page on the issue.

The Air Line Pilots Association has supported the rule since 1980, but during a meeting last year agreed to reexamine its position.

"This reexamination will help determine ALPA's future position on mandatory retirement -- whether it be to maintain or change the association's policy," the group says on its Internet site.

The Allied Pilots Association, meanwhile, has taken an if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it approach.

"The Age 60 Rule has worked effectively for more than 40 years," the APA says on its Internet site. "It was not established to enhance pilot careers by allowing them to move up the seniority ladder faster, nor should it be changed to allow a small group of pilots to fly longer to meet their financial goals. The Age 60 Rule makes sense and is in place to protect America's flying public."

One of the reasons Kelleher has signed on to support the pilots seeking a change is that the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association has asked that the Age 60 Rule be reconsidered.

"The Age 60 limitation is a regrettable waste to both Southwest Airlines and the American traveling public," said Ike Eichelkraut, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association. "The flight experience accumulated over the career of a professional pilot approaching the age of 60 is considerable. Ejecting this know-how from the cockpit of a commercial airliner merely because of a birth date is not only untenable, but irrational."

Wright update

Sen. John Ensign's introduction of legislation to repeal the Wright Amendment has led rivals to introduce some wacky spin-off bills.

Ensign's bill would repeal the Wright Amendment, which restricts flights from Dallas' Love Field. If Ensign's bill were to become law, Southwest Airlines, whose headquarters is at Love Field, could offer nonstop flights to and from several destinations, including Las Vegas and Reno.

Officials with Southwest rival American Airlines and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport oppose any repeal of the Wright Amendment.

Before the ink had dried on Ensign's bill, Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., responded with the "True Competition Act," which would close Love Field in three years. Inhofe said Ensign's bill " would open Love Field to nationwide long-haul flights pressuring American Airlines, a major Oklahoma employer and air-service provider, to fragment their base of operation at DFW by splitting flights between Love Field and DFW."

Inhofe said that would raise costs and jeopardize existing Oklahoma City, Lawton and Tulsa air service to Dallas.

"As an individual who has passed through Love Field on many occasions, I can say that Southwest operates a very efficient and successful airline and one that I respect very much," Inhofe said. "That being said, American Airlines is Tulsa's largest employer and I have a responsibility to protect not only Oklahoma jobs but also continuing air service to our communities."

After Inhofe's bill surfaced, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, one of the sponsors of House legislation that mirrors Ensign's bill, filed the "What's Love Got to Do with It Act."

That proposal would shut down Tulsa International Airport if Love Field is closed. Hensarling's retort also includes a provision to close the airport at Des Moines, Iowa, since Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin is in support of the Inhofe bill.

As of this writing, no one has suggested shutting down McCarran International Airport.

Richard N. Velotta covers tourism for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4061 or by e-mail at velotta@lasvegassun.com.