Originally Posted by
Castle Bravo
Wow, where to start...
It ain't the pay; it's the loss of swagger. And time away from home.
The AF has 12,300 pilots; DL, UA and AA each exceed that. The USAF (or Navy/USMC) could easily pay Legacy pay rates by purchasing one less F-35/B-21/pick-a-plane. But that won't solve the institutional problems that are at the core of the pilot shortage.
The US Post Office LOSES more money per year than the USAF annual budget for the entire nuclear force...money's not the issue.
By "not practical" I didn't mean fiscally. It would be a political issue with the rest of the military (and the public). Targeted retention bonuses get after that somewhat, and justified by empirical retention data.
Like I said, plan B had better be keep them in the reserves and even that's not going so great.