The Air Force Has a Big Problem: It’s Running Out of Pilots
Today’s Air Force is relatively paltry compared to its heyday, with just 142 bombers and just over 2,000 fighter aircraft. And the average USAF bomber is around fifty years old, while the average fighter pilot is around thirty years old.
Heather Penney, a former F-16 pilot and current Senior Resident Fellow at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, argues that the U.S. Air Force urgently needs to address its pilot shortage in order to meet the demands of addressing a peer competitor.
“For more than a decade,” Penney wrote, “the Air Force has fallen short of its pilot goals by about 2,000—the number was about 1,850 pilots in 2024—and with aging combat aircraft inventories, more planned force structure divestments, and projected squadron closures complicating the problem, the service is now struggling to ensure its pilots have the experience needed to succeed in combat.”
Countering the problem, Penney argues, will require adding new pilots to the Air Force, incentivizing current pilots to remain with the force, and adding new aircraft.
Understanding the Air Force’s Pilot Shortage
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-air-force-has-a-big-problem-it-s-running-out-of-pilots/ar-AA1CYgQZ?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=cd2ce8aa10d84c39b58a69ea31a136db&ei=37
