Air Force aircraft readiness plunges to new low, alarming chief
By Stephen Losey
Mar 6, 2025, 03:00 PM
AURORA, Colo. — Barely more than six in 10 aircraft in the Air Force’s fleet were able to carry out their missions on an average day in fiscal 2024, according to a Defense News analysis.
The fleet-wide mission capable rate of 62% is the lowest in recent memory. It comes as the Air Force’s arsenal of more than 5,000 planes is aging and the service finds it increasingly difficult to keep some in the air.
The Air Force provided statistics on how many of each kind of aircraft it had in 2024, as well as the percentage of time each aircraft was ready to carry out its mission. Those stats were first reported by Air and Space Forces Magazine.
To come up with a fleet-wide mission-capable rate, Defense News calculated a weighted average of all airframes. Using a weighted average places more emphasis on airframes that the service has more of — such as the C-17 Globemaster, F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter — and less emphasis on rarer airframes.
https://www.airforcetimes.com/air/2025/03/06/air-force-aircraft-readiness-plunges-to-new-low-alarming-chief/
