Justices Back Pilots in Key Age Bias Case

WASHINGTON —  The Supreme Court, acting in a key age discrimination case, today unanimously sided with a group of airline pilots who said Trans World Airlines discriminated against them because they were 60 or over.

The justices upheld a federal appeals court ruling that TWA was guilty of bias when it denied pilots over 60 the same chance at lower paying jobs in the cockpit as younger pilots who could not work for other reasons, such as medical disability.

However, the ruling, written by Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr., who has been hospitalized since undergoing surgery Friday for prostate cancer, said the airline did not willfully discriminate because it made efforts to see if its policy violated the federal law that bars forced retirement for people under 70. This portion of the court’s opinion sets aside the double back wages awarded by the appeals court, which had ruled that TWA willfully discriminated against the pilots.

The TWA case was brought by former pilots who charged that the airline violated federal age discrimination law by refusing transfers to captains and co-pilots when they reached 60. They also said they were forcibly retired by refusal of the transfers.

The Federal Aviation Administration sets 60 as the age limit for pilots and co-pilots. There is no age limit for flight engineers, who monitor the mechanical, electrical and electronic functions of the aircraft.

In a second 9-0 ruling, the court gave police power to stop and question a criminal suspect based on information circulated by another police department in a “wanted flyer,” even without knowing whether an arrest warrant exists.

Led by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the high court said an officer can rely on evidence and information gathered by police in the area where the crime was committed.

“Where police have been unable to locate a person suspected of involvement in a past crime, the ability to briefly stop that person, ask questions, or check identification . . . promotes the strong government interest in solving crimes and bringing offenders to justice,” O’Connor said.