Canadian air force short of 275 pilots

by Oliver Tue 18 Sep 2018, 10:22 am

Canadian air force short of 275 pilots as attrition outpaces recruitment and training, according to internal report

The Canadian Press
Lee Berthiaume
September 18, 2018

Canadian air force short of 275 pilots Rcafedited

https://nationalpost.com/news/canadian-air-force-short-275-pilots-as-attrition-outpaces-recruitment-training

by Oliver Tue 18 Sep 2018, 10:35 am

Canadian Air Force short 275 pilots as attrition outpaces recruitment, training

By LEE BERTHIAUME - The Canadian Press
Tues., Sept. 18, 2018

Canadian air force short of 275 pilots Rcaf

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/09/18/canadian-air-force-working-to-address-deficiencies-says-its-short-275-pilots.html

by Wolverine Tue 18 Sep 2018, 8:41 pm

Royal Canadian Air Force down 275 pilots as demand increases for military missions

By Lee Berthiaume The Canadian Press
September 18, 2018

Canadian air force short of 275 pilots Cpt117423212_high2

https://globalnews.ca/news/4462964/royal-canadian-air-force-down-pilots/

by **Falcon** Wed 19 Sep 2018, 5:54 pm

Canada’s air force: We need pilots, technicians

By Marc Montgomery | english@rcinet.ca
Wednesday 19 September, 2018

Canadian air force short of 275 pilots Cf-hornets-sep-1-2018-romaniacpl-dominic-duchesne-beaulieu-635x357

http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2018/09/19/canadas-air-force-we-need-pilots-technicians/

by **Replica** Sun 16 Dec 2018, 5:54 pm

Canadian air force short of 275 pilots QMI_ES20141021TR16-e1544982169303

Push to use allies to train needed Canadian fighter pilots no longer being considered

Instead the number of aviators will be increased gradually over the next seven years using the existing domestic system

David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen
December 16, 2018

https://nationalpost.com/news/push-to-use-allies-to-train-needed-canadian-fighter-pilots-no-longer-being-considered

by Phantom Sun 06 Jan 2019, 8:43 am

Push to use allies to train needed Canadian fighter pilots no longer being considered

Instead the number of aviators will be increased gradually over the next seven years using the existing domestic system

David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen > Jan 6, 2019

A Canadian military plan to boost the number of fighter pilots through a one-time push using allied training won’t be happening, and instead the number of aviators will be increased gradually over the next seven years using the existing domestic system.

The plan to make use of allied training to increase the numbers of pilots to fly the interim fighter jets being acquired by the Liberals was outlined to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan in November 2016, according to documents obtained by Postmedia.

“Fighter pilot production would need to be increased above current numbers to fly the additional mission ready aircraft,” Sajjan was told as the number of jets in the military’s inventory would be boosted. “This would be done by utilizing allied training capacity with a one-time investment.”

That initiative would allow Canada to have the needed pilots in place by 2023, the briefing added.

The push for more pilots was to coincide with the purchase of 18 Super Hornets from Boeing, a U.S. aerospace firm.

But that deal collapsed after a trade complaint and Canada is now buying 25 used F-18 aircraft from Australia.

A one-time push for allied training would no longer be needed. “As the Australian F-18 jets are very similar to our CF-18’s, there will be no difference in training our pilots,” an email from the Canadian Forces noted.

“We will be using our existing pilots and growing their number gradually over the next five to seven years,” it added.

Last month Auditor General Michael Ferguson noted that the additional aircraft being acquired as an interim measure meant that the Canadian Forces “would need to considerably increase the number of trained pilots. National Defence is unlikely to be able to do so because pilots have been leaving the fighter force faster than new ones could be trained.”

Military aviators worldwide are being lured away from their jobs by the growing demand in the civilian aviation market for airline pilots.

But RCAF commander Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger told the Commons public accounts committee Dec. 3 that the main reason for Canadian pilots leaving had to do with family. “Certainly the feedback from those who are releasing is it’s a question of family, challenges for their family,” Meinzinger said. “There’s a dimension of ops tempo, work-life balance, predictability in terms of geographical location, and then typically fifth or sixth are comments about financial remuneration.”

Canada’s main fighter bases are in Cold Lake, Alta., and Bagotville, Que.

Meinzinger said there can also be issues with spouses finding employment in the locations where the pilots operate from. In addition, some pilots don’t want to be transferred to desk jobs and want to continue with flight operations.

The specific number of fighter pilots the Canadian Forces is short of is considered secret.

In the email to Postmedia, the RCAF says it is looking at several ways to attract and retain fighter pilots “which include initiatives to make living and working in our organization the best it can be.”

“This includes looking at increasing the number of staff positions where pilots still get to fly and reviewing options of longer flying tours, which would provide our members with added stability, enable them to fly longer, and retains valuable experience at the squadrons to train or upgrade qualifications of junior members,” the RCAF added.

The RCAF also says it may consider sending its trained pilots to work with allied air forces to gain further experience if there is a need.

There have been problems, on and off, since the late 1990s with producing and retaining Canadian military pilots. Postmedia reported that the Canadian Forces had to send fledgling fighter pilots down to the U.S. between 2011 and 2013 because of ongoing issues, including the availability of training aircraft provided by civilian contractors at the flying training facilities in Moose Jaw, Sask., and Cold Lake.

That reduction in aircraft availability reduced the level of training, which in turn “negatively impacted the pilot production capability,” according to a briefing for then Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk.

https://www.thesudburystar.com/news/push-to-use-allies-to-train-needed-canadian-fighter-pilots-no-longer-being-considered/wcm/d0bdea12-8009-4827-b768-d641a8c70744

by Slider Sun 10 Feb 2019, 11:38 am

Clock ticking as Royal Canadian Air Force looks to stop hemorrhaging experienced pilots

The dip in experience as veteran aviators leave for other opportunities has forced senior commanders to juggle where to put those still in uniform

Canadian air force short of 275 pilots Fighter_jets_committee_20181203-e1549809075142

Royal Canadian Air Force Commander Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger waits to appear before the House of Commons public accounts committee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Monday, December 3, 2018.

The Canadian Press
Lee Berthiaume
February 10, 2019

OTTAWA — A shortage of experienced pilots is forcing the Royal Canadian Air Force to walk a delicate line between keeping enough seasoned aviators available to train new recruits and lead missions in the air.

Air force commander Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger described the balancing act during a recent interview with The Canadian Press in which he also revealed many pilots today are likely to have less experience than counterparts in similar positions 10 years ago.

Much of the problem can be traced back to veteran aviators leaving for commercial jobs, or other opportunities outside the military, forcing senior commanders into a juggling act over where to put those still in uniform.

The dip in experience as veteran aviators leave for commercial jobs or other opportunities has forced senior commanders to juggle where to put those still in uniform.

“In order to (support) your training system … you’ve got to pull experienced pilots into those positions, but you have to have experienced pilots on the squadrons to season the youth that are joining the units,” he said.

In order to (support) your training system ... you've got to pull experienced pilots into those positions, but you have to have experienced pilots on the squadrons to season the youth that are joining the units

“So it’s a bit of a delicate balance. And when you’re in a situation where you don’t have as much experience, broadly speaking, you’ve got to balance that very carefully. Hence the idea of retaining as much talent as we can.”

Fixing the problems created by the shortage will become especially critical if the air force is to be ready for the arrival of replacements for the CF-18s.

Meinzinger said such transitions from one aircraft to another are particularly difficult — the RCAF needs to keep the same number of planes in the air to fly missions and have senior aviators train new pilots, while still sending seasoned pilots for training on the incoming fleet.

Canadian air force short of 275 pilots Air_force_pilots_20190208

A RCAF crew member prepares for takeoff aboard the CH-124 Sea King helicopter at 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron in Saanich, B.C., on Tuesday, November 27, 2018.

“Ideally you want to go into those transitions very, very healthy with 100 per cent manning and more experience than you could ever imagine,” Meinzinger said.

While he is confident the military can address its pilot shortage in the next few years, especially when it comes to those responsible for manning Canada’s fighter jets, the stakes to get it right are extremely high.

The federal auditor general reported in November that the military doesn’t have enough pilots and mechanics to fly and maintain the country’s CF-18 fighter jets. Air force officials revealed in September they were short 275 pilots and need more mechanics, sensor operators and other trained personnel across its different aircraft fleets.

There are concerns the deficit will get worse as a result of explosive growth predicted in the global commercial airline sector, which could pull many experienced military pilots out of uniform.

“That’s the expectation, that Canada will need an additional 7,000 to 8,000 pilots just to nourish the demands within the Canadian aerospace sector,” Meinzinger said. “And we don’t have the capacity as a nation to produce even half of that.”

Within the military, there also hasn’t been enough new pilots produced to replace the number who have left. The auditor general found that while 40 fighter pilots recently left the Forces, only 30 new ones were trained.

The military is working on a contract for a new training program that will let the air force increase the number of new pilots trained in a given year when necessary, as the current program allows only a fixed number to be produced.

That's the expectation, that Canada will need an additional 7,000 to 8,000 pilots just to nourish the demands within the Canadian aerospace sector

Meanwhile, Meinzinger said the loss of more seasoned pilots means others are being asked to take on more responsibility earlier in their careers, though he denied any significant impact on training or missions. He said the military is managing the situation through the use of new technology, such as simulators, to ensure the air force can still do its job.

“There’s no doubt commanding officers today in RCAF squadrons, they have probably less flying hours than they did 10 years ago,” he said.

“What that (commanding officer) has today is probably an exposure to 21st-century technology and training. So I think that certainly offsets the reduction of flying hours.”

Meinzinger and other top military commanders are nonetheless seized with the importance of keeping veteran pilots in uniform to ensure those climbing into the cockpit for the first time have someone to look to for guidance — now and in the future.

New retention strategies are being rolled out that include better support for military families, increased certainty for pilots in terms of career progression and a concerted effort to keep them in the cockpit and away from desks and administrative work.

Other militaries, notably the U.S., that are struggling with a shortage of pilots have introduced financial bonuses and other measures to stay in uniform. Meinzinger couldn’t commit to such an initiative, but did say that “nothing is off the table.”

The situation may not represent an existential crisis, at least not yet, but officials know it is one that needs to be addressed if Canada’s air force is to continue operating at top levels for the foreseeable future.

“Experience is what allows us to (transfer knowledge) and grow for the future,” Meinzinger said. “And that’s why I talk about it as being kind of the centre of gravity. In the extreme, if you lose all your experience, you can’t regenerate yourself.”

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/clock-ticking-as-air-force-looks-to-stop-hemorrhaging-experienced-pilots

by **Accer** Tue 12 Mar 2019, 12:00 pm

Canadian military wants retired pilots to come back - system needs to be flexible to allow that, says general
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN March 10, 2019

Canadian air force short of 275 pilots Cf-18-1

The Canadian Forces says it is bringing in new initiatives to boost the numbers of pilots and the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff Lt.-Gen. Paul Wynnyk recently outlined some of those for Members of Parliament.

At the Commons defence committee Feb. 28 Wynnyk pointed out the issue of pilots who are assigned to staff jobs but who want to keep flying. He suggested there could be changes that will allow that but didn’t provide many details.

Wynnyk did note that the call will be sent out for retired pilots to come back to the RCAF. “We’re reaching out to retired individuals from the Canadian Forces and seeing if they’d like to join and particularly making it more flexible for pilots who have retired to go into the reserves to perhaps look at ways of getting into Cold Lake, Bagotville, or wherever we need to fly them,” he told MPs. Wynnyk also mentioned “potential bonuses” but didn’t provide details.

Late last year RCAF commander Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger told MPs the reasons behind the fighter pilots leaving but money appeared to be low on the list of issues forcing pilots to leave. “Certainly the feedback from those who are releasing is it’s a question of family, challenges for their family,” Meinzinger explained to the Public Accounts committee. “There’s a dimension of ops tempo, work-life balance, predictability in terms of geographical location, and then typically fifth or sixth are comments about financial remuneration.”

“We find that, unless there’s a degree of predictability and positive career management over that individual, we often find individuals who are vexed,” Meinzinger further explained. “They come up to a point where they may not have anticipated they were going to move, or we’re asking them to move their family to a location where perhaps their spouse cannot find employment.”

Another factor is that some fighter pilots are not happy being streamed into administrative jobs. They want to keep flying. “We find a lot of individuals often don’t wish to move to headquarters and work in an office versus work in an aircraft,” the RCAF commander acknowledged. “We recognize that and respect it. But that dialogue, which must happen at the margin, before we force an individual to move, is very, very important.”

The U.S. Air Force has had mixed results with its bonuses offered to stem the exodus of various pilots to commercial aviation jobs. Last year the USAF announced that, for the first time, some bomber, fixed-wing combat search-and-rescue, special operations, mobility and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance pilots would be eligible for the same maximum bonus that were previously given only to fighter pilots, Stephen Losey of Air Force Times wrote in December 2018. That maximum is $420,000 but to receive that a pilot must commit to serving 12 more years.

“But turning on the cash spigot appears to have had limited effect,” Losey wrote. “According to statistics provided by the Air Force, the overall percentage of eligible manned aircraft pilots agreeing to take the bonuses — known as the take rate — increase from 44 percent in 2017 to 45 percent in 2018. That halted two years of declines, after the take rates dropped from 55 percent in 2015 to 48 percent in 2016, and to 44 percent in 2017.

But even though the take rate ticked up, overall number of pilots signing up for retention bonuses dropped from 476 to 418, the statistics showed.”

Losey’s article is here:

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/12/10/alarming-number-of-mobility-pilots-decline-bonuses-to-keep-flying-overall-bonus-take-rates-tick-up-slightly/

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/canadian-military-wants-retired-pilots-to-come-back-trying-to-make-system-flexible-to-allow-for-that

by Thunder Thu 14 Mar 2019, 1:52 pm

Air Force focuses on pilot retention

Posted on March 14, 2019 by Chris Thatcher

The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) is hoping to attract retired pilots into the Reserves and move serving pilots from staff jobs back into cockpits as part of a broader effort to retain a critical workforce, according to the vice chief of the defence staff.

Canadian air force short of 275 pilots Icnp2018-08-flyingupnorth-pilot-1400x932

The RCAF is reaching out to retired Canadian Forces personnel and other serving pilots from staff jobs in hopes that they’ll get back in the cockpit; this is part of an effort to retain pilots.

“We’re reaching out to retired individuals from the Canadian Forces and seeing if they’d like to join,” LGen Paul Wynnyk told the House of Commons defence committee in late February. “[We want to] make it more flexible for pilots who have retired to go into the Reserves, to perhaps look at ways of getting into [4 Wing] Cold Lake or [3 Wing] Bagotville or wherever we need to fly them, and potential bonuses.”

Wynnyk was responding to a question on the retention of fighter and helicopter pilots, both of which have been heavily affected by the lure of the commercial sector.

“This is not a problem that’s unique to Canada,” he acknowledged. “There’s a lot of pressure on the Five Eyes countries [Canada, U.S., U.K., Australia and New Zealand] … The big draws are the civilian airlines as they increase substantially.”

Promotion in the Air Force invariably involves a move from the aircraft to staff jobs in various headquarters. Wynnyk said the military was talking with allies about options, and considering ways to encourage those who just want to fly to remain in the service.

“[M]aybe there’s a career stream where you will not necessarily progress in rank, but will get to fly more,” he told the committee.

Wynnyk was one of six senior officials from the Department of National Defence, along with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, to appear as part of a discussion on the budget supplementary estimates for 2018-19 and the interim estimates for 2019-20.

Committee members were also concerned about “a rumour” that the department was returning the engines of the F/A-18 Hornets it has begun receiving from Australia as part of an interim measure to fill a gap in Air Force capability.

“We are in fact sending the engines back–that model of engine,” confirmed Patrick Finn, assistant deputy minister of materiel. “We have sufficient spare engines, so we dropped the engines … and we’re using our spare engines to re-engine the aircraft.”

Though the government announced it would acquire 25 Hornets from the Royal Australian Air Force–18 for operational aircraft and seven for spare parts–Finn said the seven spare jets might not be necessary.

“What we’re finding is that the number of spares they’ve been able to provide to us is more than adequate,” he explained. “Rather than take aircraft apart and go through that cost, we’re taking the spares. We may not in fact, at this point, look at any of the seven.”

Finn confirmed the Air Force was still analyzing options to upgrade the combat capability of the current fleet of 76 CF-188 Hornets, as well as the interim jets. Enhancing combat systems was not included in the approximately $360 million budget to acquire and bring the Australian jets up to the same standard as the Canadian Hornets.

“We’re looking at some upgrades around IFF, Link-16, and that’s across the entire fleet,” he said. “That is the next wave that will happen … We are replenishing missiles, looking at different areas, and the Air Force, I’d say, is in the beginning of that next phase of what they would need to do.”

Asked whether Canadians should have confidence in the military’s ability to meet its commitments, based on the state of a number of equipment procurement projects, Jody Thomas, deputy minister of National Defence, said that, with respect to the fighter jet file, the department was meeting its targets.

“The [request for proposals] for the future fighter capability project will be on the street in the spring. We are meeting every single milestone that we have laid out for that project. [And] we are working on a program to recruit pilots and to improve the number of technicians in the Air Force,” she said.

https://www.skiesmag.com/news/air-force-focuses-on-pilot-retention/

by **Spider** Tue 11 Jun 2019, 6:46 am

RCAF launches further initiatives to retain skilled personnel

DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN June 10, 2019

Canadian air force short of 275 pilots Rcaf-roundel-sized-copy-sized-copy-2

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/rcaf-launches-further-initiatives-to-retain-skilled-personnel

by Riverway Thu 04 Jul 2019, 11:19 am

Below glidepath

Posted on July 4, 2019 by Andy Cook

Canadian air force short of 275 pilots IS09-2016-0019-003-1024x682

The RCAF is falling victim to a seemingly voracious appetite for pilots in the commercial sector; and as such, it is descending well below the ideal personnel glidepath. MCpl Mathieu Gaudreault Photo

https://www.skiesmag.com/features/below-glidepath/

by **Accer** Wed 15 Apr 2020, 8:21 pm

Commercial pilots laid off amid COVID-19 could get new jobs with Canadian military

BY LEE BERTHIAUME - THE CANADIAN PRESS
Posted April 15, 2020

Canadian air force short of 275 pilots Cpt113538683-1

The Royal Canadian Air Force is hoping to address a critical shortage of experienced pilots by scooping up some of the hundreds of commercial pilots whose jobs have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

Commercial carriers across Canada furloughed hundreds of pilots, technicians and other staff last month as the airline industry struggled with plummeting demand due to travel restrictions and other fallout from the global pandemic.

Airlines such as Air Canada and WestJet have since been able to rehire the majority of their employees with help from federal wage subsidies, but there remains great uncertainty around when staff will actually return to work as most flights remain grounded.

That is where the military wants to make the most of a bad situation.

Even before COVID-19, the Air Force had been reaching out to former military pilots who had left for commercial gigs in recent years in the hopes of enticing them back into uniform as it faced a shortage of more than 200 experienced aviators.

The shortfall, which saw Air Force commanders walking a delicate line between keeping enough seasoned aviators available to train new recruits and lead missions in the air, coincided with significant growth in the global commercial airline sector.

Now, at a time when the commercial airline industry is facing uncertainty and disarray, the Air Force hopes that by highlighting the stability that comes with a career in the military, more former military pilots will decide to re-enrol.

The decision by airlines to hire staff doesn’t help that effort, but Air Force spokesman Lt.-Col. Steve Neta said early indications have been encouraging as 26 former pilots have reached out in recent weeks to see about re-enrolling. Several have started formal applications.

“It’s certainly encouraging to see former skilled RCAF members get in contact with our Air Force Intake and Liaison Team,” Neta said. “Each experienced person that we can bring back will add value as we continue our efforts to strengthen the depth of experience across the RCAF.”

The federal auditor general first reported in late 2018 that the military didn’t have enough pilots and mechanics to fly and maintain Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets. The Air Force at the time was short 275 pilots and needed more mechanics, sensor operators and other trained personnel.

Efforts had since been made to better retain experienced personnel, particularly by better supporting military families, tapping reservists to help with basic maintenance work and adjusting some positions to keep pilots in the air rather than flying desks.

The military has also been working on a contract for a new training program that will let the Air Force increase the number of new pilots trained in a given year when necessary. The current program allows only a fixed number.

It will be several months before the Air Force will see actual re-enrolments from the latest efforts, said Neta, as those interested must go through a screening process to ensure they still meet the required standards to serve.

“Nonetheless, the RCAF is committed to facilitating this process to further strengthen our numbers of skilled and experienced personnel.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/6823775/coronavirus-canada-military-pilots/?fbclid=IwAR2CYG7W9A5Q42ZODsEJcQwD8bThuhARyRPHEBSMELL6c2mkdWevPNB7h2k

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