US Air Force Reporting Pilot Shortage 270
An anonymous reader writes "Times sure have changed: it is no longer cool to be a fighter pilot. The Pentagon expects to be short some 200 fighter pilots this year, and is projecting that shortfall will increase to 700 pilots by 2021. Various factors seem to be involved: better paying jobs in the commercial sector with more stability, the stress of repeated overseas deployments, and the threat that ultimately the job they trained to do — fly planes — is being superseded by remotely-controlled drones. With demand for commercial aviators heating up as thousands of pilots are expected to reach mandatory retirement age (65) in the next five years, the Air Force is caught in a quandary. Where are they going to get the pilots to fly their shiny new F-35s?"
PIlots don't make much (Score:5, Informative)
Pilots have always left the air force for private jobs. I think the issue is likely that fewer are signing up to replace them, because the news is out that pilots don't make much money.
If you pay commercial pilots more, then more pilots will join the air force for 5-10 years in order to become commercial pilots later.
Sure, we're likely to see many pilots retire at 65 and all that, but with all the industry consolidation the fact is that new pilots can't make money. There are tons of people with experience flying airliners who can't get jobs flying airliners.
Drones (Score:5, Informative)
Who wants to be a pilot and put your butt on the line every day as you enter enemy territory when you can be a drone pilot half way across the world and go home to your wife and kids every night.
Besides, it's looking more and more like "fighter pilot" is a dead end job and won't be around forever. Why send one fighter when you can send 10 drones that can outmaneuver any manned plane for the less cost and no risk to pilots life.
IMO an indirect effect (Score:4, Informative)
I was in AFROTC 20 years ago. It was known for a long time that the "battle boom" of pilots from Vietnam who went to the air lines was drying up, and when those numbers fell, there'd be a suction of active duty pilots lured into the civilian sector to fill in the need. There's always going to be a line of kids trying to fly fighters. This is more a Pin vs Pout issue. Couple that with a smaller Air Force of gourmet fighters and drones and now the civilian sector is going to have to get used to finding/creating other pools of pilots with 1000s of hours in hand.
Re:PIlots don't make much (Score:4, Informative)
Pilots have always left the air force for private jobs. I think the issue is likely that fewer are signing up to replace them, because the news is out that pilots don't make much money.
If you pay commercial pilots more, then more pilots will join the air force for 5-10 years in order to become commercial pilots later.
Sure, we're likely to see many pilots retire at 65 and all that, but with all the industry consolidation the fact is that new pilots can't make money. There are tons of people with experience flying airliners who can't get jobs flying airliners.
This is true. It doesn't take long to realize that decent pay only exists for pilots who work for a large carrier. I was surprised to learn that regional air carrier pilots could earn as little as $25K/year. I assume that pilots have to keep up certification and pay for certification to upgrade their skills (i.e., learn to fly larger planes). Heck 25K barely feeds you and your family.
Re:Good god. Air force Obsolete. (Score:5, Informative)
"Gone are the days of fighting cables and air pressure. It's all computers. "
I've been in the back seat of an F-16 D-model (I was a crew chief and we got rides when there was no one scheduled to go up for other purposes). The G-forces are considerable and you certainly do "fight" them (straining maneuvers etc). Flying any modern fighter takes considerable physical endurance.
A "belly" doesn't indicate lack of resistance to G's.
The F-35 is not the problem (Score:5, Informative)
Re:The more likely reason (Score:3, Informative)
There is the fact that civilian pay for airline pilots is so low. In fact, officer pay (all pilots are O rank) is usually higher than what one can find in the civilian industry.
A lot of people don't want to be pilots just because there is no future in that field unless one wants to buy their own plane and run their own charter service (good luck.)
Almost any other profession, the amount of hours one has to log would get them a journeyman or master rank. A commercial airline captain? $40k/year. To boot, the allowances for hotels and such have been pared to the bone... airline crews end up sleeping in bunks/dorms.
Make the pay worth it, then people will consider that route.
Get your facts straight. A captain in a major airline makes much closer to 6 figures a year than 40k. And most are former military meaning they draw military benefits as well. 40k a year is what a pilot might make if they go through civilian flight school and have just gotten hired on as a mainline pilot (and they would not be a Captain, they would be an FO) after a few years as a pilot with a subsidiary carrier such as Expressjet or SkyWest. While working for one of those smaller carriers, yes, they will make probably $25-30k a year. Former military will start closer to 60-70k a year, and can start up with a mainline carrier immediately. $40k a year? Most other airline employees have to work for about 8 years before they get close to $40k a year base pay. And then don't forget all of the union negotiated benefits such as guaranteed pay, and other ancillary benefits(can jump seat on any carrier). And bunks/dorms? When commercial pilots are on an overnight rotation, they get put up in hotels, and rather nice ones to boot. You are way off on your assessment of the "hardship" pilots have. And I have been around the airline business literally my entire life: my mother has worked for a major air carrier as long as I have been alive, and has been a manager in charge of dealing with part of the operation relating to pilots for about 8 years now, and I have worked for the same carrier since 2006 in various capacities.
Re: Obvious Solution (Score:2, Informative)
Sir your mistaken, drones are flown by officers. Kind of sucks for them, they through flight school and end up flying behind a computer desk.