Airline hiring boom drives pilot shortage for USAF

摘要

Lucrative job offers from commercial airlines are causing the US Air Force (USAF) to lose experienced pilots from its ranks, likely leading to a shortage of at least 700 personnel in the coming years, top service officials said on 10 August. "The airlines are forecast to be hiring a lot more," Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said during a Pentagon press conference. "They already are." USAF Chief of Staff General David Goldfein, the service's top military official, said the shortage was an imminent "crisis" for the military. "Here's the reason I believe it's a crisis: air superiority is not an American birthright," he said. "It's actually something you have to fight for and maintain." James said the service plans to create two additional training units for Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft pilots and to increase retention bonuses for unmanned aerial system (UAS) operators.