$54-Million Bonus Plan to Keep Veteran Pilots Urged by AF

WASHINGTON — The Air Force wants to establish a $54-million bonus program in the next fiscal year in hopes of persuading more of its pilots to stay in the service, Air Force Secretary Edward C. Aldridge said Friday.

Because of stepped-up hiring by commercial airlines, the re-enlistment rate for military pilots is dropping steadily, Aldridge said at a news conference. Within the key group of pilots who have six to 11 years in the service, retention has dropped from about 78% in 1983 to 48% in 1987, he said.

“And it looks like it’s going to get lower than that in fiscal 1988, probably down to 40%,” Aldridge said. “We are losing more pilots than we are graduating now, which means our experience level in the cockpit is going down.”

Although the details have not been worked out, “basically we would pay pilots something on the order of $9,000 to $12,000 per year for signing up for a period of time as bonuses to the basic pay that they would have,” he said.

Decisions still have to be made on how large the bonus would be, whether it would vary by age and experience and how long a commitment would be expected from the pilot, Aldridge said.