For years, cabin crew were caught in a paradox: they share the cabin, the working hours and the risks of pilots — for whom Social Security does recognise a reduced retirement age — yet they were denied that same right simply because their role is not expressly named in Royal Decree 1559/1986 of 28 June.
A right the law already protected
The reduction-coefficient regime does not reward the act of flying the aircraft; it compensates the particular conditions of danger, hardship and premature ageing of those who work on board, under Article 206 of the consolidated text of the General Social Security Act. Those conditions — pressurised cabin, take-off and landing cycles, radiation, noise, disruption of the circadian rhythm and increasingly demanding aeromedical examinations — apply identically to pilots and to cabin crew.
The Supreme Court had already opened the door to this interpretation by extending the coefficients of Royal Decree 1559/1986 to all flight personnel in commercial air transport, by analogy and by identity of reason, warning that denying to some what is granted to others in an equivalent situation "would be clearly discriminatory".
What Legalair achieved
Where others saw a formal obstacle, our firm built the legal path to make that right effective: recognition of a cabin crew member's early retirement with the 0.40 reduction coefficient, the same that applies to flight personnel. It was the first milestone of a line of work that today benefits dozens of professionals in the sector.
This 2024 achievement was not an isolated case, but the start of a solid legal strategy grounded in current legislation, Supreme Court doctrine and the constitutional principle of equality.
What it means for you if you are cabin crew
If you have worked as a member of cabin crew, you are very likely entitled to bring your retirement age forward by counting your actual flight time with the reduction coefficient, without reducing your pension. In many cases, that can mean several years earlier.
At Legalair we were the first to prove it. Today we remain the reference firm in early retirement for flight personnel.
Want to know how many years you could bring your retirement forward? Request a personalised, no-obligation study: we analyse your working life and contribution bases and tell you exactly what you are entitled to.