SFG

Don’t expect any changes next year. FY19NDAA House Markup “The following sections of title 37, United States Code, are amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2018’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2019’’: ... (3) Section 334(i), relating to special aviation incentive pay and bonus authorities for officers.”

Latest testimony on the Pilot Shortage (5 minute vid).

Maybe shortsighted. Maybe not. I can agree with everything else you said and I only recommend Guard (and only Guard) to pilot hopefuls. I just think that we would all call someone stupid if they were cracking eggs over a frying pan while we were expecting them to be preparing pizza. Let’s face it. These are thoughtful, well-educated individuals. They are not stupid. But, it has become clear that they simply don’t have the same end-game or goals in mind. They’re making an omelette. No matter how much we want pizza (my number has always been 76k to match airline pay), they aren’t doing it. Not because they are stupid. It’s an emotional move to underestimate the other team’s intelligence. Not that you called them stupid directly, but it’s been happening a lot. I’ve come to accept that they’ve determined that they don’t need us as much as we think. They have determined that their actions will result in a solution that is good enough. And they’ve determined they don’t need us. It is apparent that they think enough will stay from what they have planned. Seeing as they have plans to shut the flood gates by lobbying to rescind the 1500/750 hour rule and increase pilot training in 50 different ways from Sunday I’ve personally concluded that they’ve found it more attainable to solve the Airline shortage, which they see as the root cause of our shortage... and that will be good enough. It’s a shrewd move. They’re going to end the airline hiring spree, flanking us on the left while we’re all looking right and telling them they suck. Plus, not all my pilot friends can apparently do math or care about being deployed 200+ days a year then coming home to queep... or single. I can’t call the AF shortsighted pertaining to this newest leadership team just yet. I think they have cards up their sleeve we don’t see. It would behoove us to each worry about our own smartest move and less about theirs... walking with our feet instead of stomping around in fits. Insulting their intelligence insinuates that they don’t understand what they are doing. But they do. They’re not dumb. They know what they are doing. They just don’t care about the same things you do and they may just have a different end-game in mind. And when you walk with your feet, don’t assume they will care. You’ve got to do it for you... not to stick it to the man. They will thank you for your service, but they will never care. That’s OK. They’re not stupid. They’ve got plans. Make sure you do too, in or out. It’s like a bad breakup. We don’t want to be the crazy ex. It’s not flattering. Let’s just move on.

I see your point, so to rephrase... closing the door to the airlines by lobbying for the elimination of the 1500/750-hour rule and for increased national pilot training throughput is a shrewd move.

I think it is significant to note that the quote above is just a drop in the bucket from the written testimony they submitted beforehand, not actually what was said. Neither incentive pay nor bonuses were mentioned in the verbal testimony. They only discussed QOL/QOS initiatives and increasing flight hours. It was definitely intentional that they omitted any talk about money. Judging by the commitee's response at the end, I think they got the point that they wanted them to get. That is... Pilots don't want money. They want to fly. And these initiatives will fix the pilot shortage. I do think they understand market capitalism. They also communicated quite clearly that they do not like the 1500/750-hour rule "which other countries do not have," and welcomed the committee's support with respect to that and other national pilot training initiatives. They're not dumb.

Based on the Secretary and Chief's testimony in Congress today... total RUMINT. Maybe the AF figured out they could increase retention by floating bonus rumors for future FYs. Smart! https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/18-04-24-posture-of-the-department-of-the-air-force I thought the entire thing was interesting for a few different reasons, but to zero in on the retention part you care about, the commitee said something to the effect of, "2000 pilots short... wah wah, wah wah wah wah." Chief replies, "Pilots joined to fly and we are increasing their flying hours to make that happen. We've also got QOL and Quality of Service initiatives... wah wah wah." Towards the end of the entire hearing, the committee says, "Thank you for your testimony... wah wah wah... now we understand that retaining pilots in the Air Force is not about the money and pilots just want to be pilots. Thank you for thanking us for helping you help them improve their quality of service in that area... wah wah wah." Or something like that.

It's actually pretty smart... pays enough to keep people in who have done all the calculations and understand the kind of QOL that airline pay is offering them, ...then, when airline hiring slows to a drip, so does the professional pay. Genius.

Actually, the memo shows that the "nothing-burger" dossier was used as justification to spy on American citizens... that's no nothing-burger... that's a Whopper.

Know a few like this myself. Sad.