{"id":20897,"date":"2020-03-04T19:48:42","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T19:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/03\/04\/air-force-no-progress-in-closing-pilot-shortfall\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:33:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:33:21","slug":"air-force-no-progress-in-closing-pilot-shortfall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2020\/03\/04\/air-force-no-progress-in-closing-pilot-shortfall\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force: No progress in closing pilot shortfall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several years into a major effort to fix an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2017\/11\/09\/air-force-leaders-were-going-to-break-the-force\/?utm_expid=.jFR93cgdTFyMrWXdYEtvgA.1&amp;utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F#jwvideo\" target=\"_blank\">alarming shortage of pilots<\/a>, the Air Force has little to show for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Air Force officials told lawmakers on the House Armed Services subcommittee on readiness Tuesday that at the end of fiscal 2019, the service was short 2,100 pilots \u2014 10 percent of the 21,000 pilots it needs to execute the National Defense Strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Top Air Force leaders have said since at least 2017 that they were facing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2017\/11\/19\/the-air-force-is-throwing-money-at-pilots-to-stay-fewer-and-fewer-are-interested\/?utm_expid=.jFR93cgdTFyMrWXdYEtvgA.1&amp;utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F#jwvideo\" target=\"_blank\">roughly 2,000-pilot shortfall<\/a>, indicating the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2016\/09\/17\/how-the-air-force-is-scrambling-to-head-off-an-exodus-of-fighter-pilots\/?utm_expid=.jFR93cgdTFyMrWXdYEtvgA.1&amp;utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F#jwvideo\" target=\"_blank\">situation has not improved<\/a> \u2014 and in fact, may have gotten a little worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2016\/07\/18\/air-force-leaders-plan-incentives-to-fix-fighter-pilot-shortage\/?utm_expid=.jFR93cgdTFyMrWXdYEtvgA.1&#038;utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F#jwvideo\" target=_blank>Air Force in 2016<\/a> began increasingly discussing the problem of pilot retention and it\u2019s difficulty in holding on to skilled pilots in the face of a major hiring wave by deep-pocketed commercial airlines. Pilot training also has not been producing enough new pilots to keep up with the Air Force\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In November 2017, former Secretary Heather Wilson warned that the shortfall had swelled from 1,500 pilots to 2,000, and was a long-term threat that had the potential to \u201cbreak the force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In written testimony Tuesday from acting Undersecretary of the Air Force Shon Manasco, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Seve Wilson, and Space Force Vice Commander Lt. Gen. David Thompson, the service said that with pilots in short supply around the world, and expected to grow increasingly in-demand, \u201crecruiting, developing and retaining aviators remains a significant challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Increasing production of new aviators is the best tool the Air Force has to stop this shortfall, the officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2020\/02\/14\/air-force-cuts-pilot-training-goal-in-2020\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"158\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/hypoxia_main.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Air Force won\u2019t meet pilot training goal in 2020<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">If the Air Force hits its new pilot production goal, it would be just a slight increase from last year.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But problems remain there as well. The Air Force said last month it will miss its goal of producing 1,480 pilots this year, and now expects to train about 1,300 pilots in fiscal 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force said in February that it hopes to produce at least 1,480 pilots annually beginning next year. But officials told lawmakers at the hearing that, \u201cWe continue to make progress toward growing pilot production to 1,480 aviators per year by&#8221; fiscal 2024, suggesting that it may be another few years before the Air Force hits that mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilson told lawmakers that the Air Force has seen a roughly 30 percent increase in the number of pilots it produces since 2015, when it graduated about 1,000 pilots. And he pointed to the Air Force\u2019s innovative Pilot Training Next program, which uses virtual reality, biometrics and artificial intelligence technology to create cutting-edge flight simulations and improve how aspiring pilots learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/06\/11\/ending-the-pilot-exodus-air-force-rolls-out-new-bonuses-incentives-will-it-work-this-time\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"185\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AIR-pilots-cover-1-web.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Ending the pilot exodus: Air Force rolls out new bonuses, incentives \u2014 will it work this time?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Nearly two years after top Air Force leaders began sounding the alarm on a worrying shortfall of pilots, the key elements of a solution are finally falling into place.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force last month said several longstanding factors, including a lack of available aircraft and civilian flight simulator instructors, are still hampering pilot production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a June 2018 interview, Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein said there would never be a single \u201csilver bullet\u201d that solves the problem. But the Air Force rolled out a series of efforts to attack the problem from several angles. This included dramatically increasing the size of retention bonuses, recruiting and training more pilots, bringing back retired pilots, trying to convince experienced pilots to stay longer, and improving pilots\u2019 quality of life so they\u2019re happier and want to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In written testimony, the officials said the proposed 2021 budget includes several provisions to improve pilot production, including $9 billion to fund 1.2 million flying hours across the Air Force, $275.7 million for the T-7A Red Hawk advanced jet trainer program, and $222.4 million for contractors to serve as adversaries in pilot training, as well as another $27.6 million to expand the Pilot Training Next program across the entire undergraduate pilot training program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And the Air Force remains worried about its ability to hold on to seasoned pilots, who are \u201cinspired to serve, but are nevertheless stressed by nearly two decades of sustained combat,&#8221; officials said in their written testimony. If the operational demands made on the Air Force continue to exceed what its already-stressed force can handle, the Air Force\u2019s ability to retain those pilots remains at risk, they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To help retain pilots, the Air Force asked Congress to fund quality of life efforts such as retention bonuses, high-quality education for dependents, and more employment opportunities for spouses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Air Force has tried to attack the pilot shortfall from multiple angles for several years, but it hasn&#8217;t shrunk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":43072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","left-column","home","middle-column"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[101,24,88,16,26,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3320],"class_list":["post-20897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"A3M2KX5XYZFGZFAW5755IJEKHM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2020\/03\/04\/air-force-no-progress-in-closing-pilot-shortfall\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Air Force: No progress in closing pilot shortfall - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Air Force has tried to attack the pilot shortfall from multiple angles for several years, but it hasn&#039;t shrunk.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Air Force: No progress in closing pilot shortfall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Air Force has tried to attack the pilot shortfall from multiple angles for several years, but it hasn&#039;t shrunk.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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