Despite fears that a lack of flying hours and a hiring binge would drive Air Force pilots to commercial airliners, 67 percent of Air Force pilots offered aviator retention pay (ARP) in fiscal year 2013 accepted the bonuses.
Air Force spokeswoman Maj. Toni Whaley said Wednesday in an email that 212 fighter jet pilots were offered ARP worth up to $225,000 over nine years with 132 taking the bonus, a rate of 62 percent. Whaley also said 709 regular pilots were also offered ARP with 483 accepting the bonus, a rate of 68 percent. Whaley said 68 percent is also the five-year rate of bonus acceptance.
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| The Air Force’s F-22. Photo: Lockheed Martin. |
Air Force brass started sounding alarms earlier this year about the potential exodus. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh testified to a Senate panel in early May that he was aware of a potential run on Air Force pilots to the commercial sector. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) member John McCain (R-Ariz.) said during the hearing that he was told of a glut of retirements in the commercial airlines that could create a demand for Air Force pilots “that we have not seen in a long time.” (Defense Daily, June 18).
Federal law prohibits commercial airline pilots to fly past the age of 65.
Air Force brass has expressed concerns pilots would leave over reduced flying hours from sequestration-related budget cuts because they didn’t join the service to sit around. The Air Force slashed flying hours this year, Acting Air Force Secretary Eric Fanning said Nov. 18.
“We had a lot of people not flying this summer,” Fanning told an Air Force Association (AFA) breakfast in Arlington, Va. “If you were in the fight, you were flying. If you were immediately next going into the fight, you were flying. If you were on a nuclear deterrence mission, you were flying. Otherwise, we gutted the flying hours.”
Whaley said that though the retention numbers are “very close to what our analysis predicted,” she also said the lack of flying hours and associated adverse impact on morale may not have fully manifested itself in recent take-rate data.
“If sequestration and standing down units continue into fiscal year 2014 and beyond, the retention impact may be significant,” Whaley said in an email.
Though Fanning said Nov. 18 that fighter pilots in the F-22 community were passing up the bonuses, Whaley said this was likely because pilot retention figures had just arrived for the fiscal year and that remarks by leadership going forward will likely reflect the new numbers.
Whaley also said the Air Force made modifications to the ARP to focus attention on its most stressed field: the fighter pilot community. In a chart provided by Whaley, fighter jet pilots can choose from four different bonus packages: A five-year bonus at $25,000 per year; a five-year bonus at $25,000 per year with 50 percent up front; $25,000 per year for up to 20 years with 50 percent up front or $25,000 per year for up to 20 years.
Fanning warned that many Air Force pilots could choose to leave for more than just financial opportunity.
“People join the Air Force and the uniform for the mission as well,” Fanning said. “If they’re not flying for us, they’re not getting that reward of contributing to the mission.”