{"id":26148,"date":"2018-12-21T22:02:21","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T22:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/21\/to-keep-pilots-from-leaving-air-mobility-command-aims-to-get-them-back-in-the-air\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:48:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:48:44","slug":"to-keep-pilots-from-leaving-air-mobility-command-aims-to-get-them-back-in-the-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/12\/21\/to-keep-pilots-from-leaving-air-mobility-command-aims-to-get-them-back-in-the-air\/","title":{"rendered":"To keep pilots from leaving, Air Mobility Command aims to get them back in the air"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Air Mobility Command<\/a> has a problem. Commercial airlines are in the midst of a hiring spree, and AMC\u2019s mobility pilots<\/a> have exactly the experience companies like Delta and United need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there are signs that the problem is even more acute for AMC than the rest of the Air Force, which is also hurting for pilots. In a Friday interview, Brig. Gen Darren James, AMC\u2019s director of operations, strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, said that from 2015 through 2017, mobility pilots accepted hefty aviation retention bonuses<\/a> at about the same rate as the rest of the Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That changed in 2018, when the percentage of eligible mobility pilots signing up for the Aviation Bonus Program dropped sharply, to 37.9 percent. That\u2019s a 6-percentage point decline from the previous year, and is now about 7 percentage points lower than the overall take rate for manned aircraft pilots across the Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s concerning to me,\u201d James said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, AMC has tried to find out why their mobility pilots are leaving \u2014 and taken steps to correct those problems and encourage them to stay longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some factors are apparent, and out of AMC\u2019s hands, he said. The economy is doing better, and the private sector \u2014 particularly airlines \u2014 is hiring, which is typically when AMC has trouble with retention. The Air Force has been fighting in the Middle East and Afghanistan for 17 years now, and that continuous operations tempo puts strain on airmen and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But AMC has also been surveying recently separated pilots to find out what pushed them to leave. And their responses have given AMC some ideas on how to improve pilots’ lives, James said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t