RAF starting to fill pilot shortfall in 100th year

The RAF is starting to address a shortage of pilots after enjoying its best recruiting year in a decade, the head of the air force said.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier spoke as the RAF held its first ever joint graduation ceremony for officers and non-commissioned airmen at RAF College Cranwell in Lincolnshire yesterday.

It marked the end of the official RAF100 celebrations, which he described as a “tremendous year” for the RAF.

“Our recruitment is strong at the moment,” he said. “We’ve just had our best recruiting year in a decade.

“That’s getting us to about 100 per cent of our recruiting targets.

“That’s welcome news, but as those recruits flow in it takes some time to go through training, particularly for pilots.

“It’s a long and intensive process, so it’s going to be a while before we actually see the results of that at the frontline. So yes, we’re short of pilots at the frontline at the moment, but not so short that we can’t do our job.”

A report by Whitehall’s spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) published in April warned as of January the country’s fulltime military was operating at 5.7 per cent below target.

There was a need for 800 pilots, especially in the RAF, the report stated.

Sir Stephen said the RAF100 celebrations had “inspired both ourselves and future generations”.