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 currently faces a shortage of 1,650 pilots, primarily among company-grade officers and fighter pilots, though this is an improvement from the previous year.
This deficit forces more experienced officers into flying roles, leaving staff positions unfilled and creating a long-term pipeline issue expected to take over a decade to correct.
To address the shortage, the Air Force is implementing various strategies including bringing back retired pilots, increasing training output, and accelerating programs like UPT 2.5 and "Civil Path to Wings" for new and experienced recruits.
Despite making gains in training more pilots and tackling the problem with targeted programs, the service acknowledges that fully resolving this long-standing pilot shortfall will be a lengthy process.

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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.”