U.S. Air Force is Short 1,650 Pilots, Report Says

The shortage of fighter pilots has prompted the service to staff operational units with field grade officers, a service official said.

Kimberly Johnson

Tuesday, April 05, 2022 at 10:20 AM ET

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The USAF reported it employed 13,789 active duty officers with a pilot aeronautical rating in 2021. [Courtesy: Nellis Air Force Base]

Key Takeaways:

The U.S. Air Force is currently short 1,650 pilots, primarily company-grade officers and fighter pilots, a shortfall that forces more experienced field-grade officers into flying roles and has led to bringing back retired pilots.
This pilot shortage, while an improvement from last year, is a long-standing issue that is projected to take a decade or more to fully correct.
The Air Force is implementing various strategies to address the deficit, including accelerating pilot training programs (like UPT 2.5 and "Civil Path to Wings"), increasing training output, and creating new pathways for active-duty airmen to enter flight training.

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The U.S. Air Force is short 1,650 pilots and has brought back retired pilots to help fill staffing gaps created by a lack of company-grade officers, according to a new report.

“That’s an improvement over last year, where we were just over 1,900 pilots short,” Maj. Gen. Albert Miller, Air Force director of training and readiness for operations, told the Federal News Network recently. “We see that as a positive for the Air Force, but there’s still a lot of work to be done to get us back to where we want to be.”