Originally Posted by
Hossharris
Or rather, why are we paying fighter pilots so little?
They get paid the same as any other service member, with some hazard pay (similar to other specialties), and retention pay (specific to airframe, as-needed to manage the force structure).
It's probably not practical for the government to give them legacy airline pay, instead they should try to manage the career path so as to be something people want to do. But actually the government really only needs to keep them for the 10-15 years between ADSC and retirement eligibility. After 20+ years, they only need a relatively small handful of colonels, and even those for only a few more years. Very few officers can get anywhere near age 60, and you'd need a lot of stars on shoulder to even have a chance.
It's probably a losing battle to retain enough folks in this airline hiring climate. Instead, they need to make sure they attract them to the reserves, so if they ever really need them, they're available and current. IMO they might need to move some planes to the guard/reserve, since that's where all their pilots are headed anyway.