Army considers better pay for aviation as pilots and crews leave at record rate

The Army wants to boost flight pay and award pilots with incentive money for career achievements in a bid to stem a record 10% attrition rate due largely to aging air crews and competition from commercial airlines.

Maj. Gen. William Gayler, commander of the Army Aviation Center of Excellence, spoke of the adjustments the Army is weighing to retain more experienced pilots at an aviation conference last week.

“We have a commercial airline industry that needs pilots,” Gayler said in an Army statement. “All of our [military] services have seen air crew members migrate out to the commercial world.”

The shortage of pilots across the military is most acute in the Air Force, which is facing a deficit of about 2,000 pilots.

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