(a)
The board shall review the benefits received by retired or disabled pilots and inland pilots and their surviving spouses every three years or when the cumulative percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (San Francisco Bay Area) has exceeded 12 percent, whichever occurs first.
(b)
The board may increase the monthly pensions specified in Section 1163. Those increases shall take into consideration the maritime industry practice in the United States as brought to the attention of the board by the pilots, inland pilots, or the industry. The increase shall not exceed 50 percent of the cumulative increase in the Consumer Price Index (San Francisco Bay Area). Monthly pensions for retired pilots, inland pilots, or their surviving spouses who have been retired less than the full three-year interval between adjustments shall increase on a pro rata basis according to the number of months that those persons have been retired prior to that adjustment.