UK Air Force Facing Pilot Shortage As Diversity Hiring Backfires: Report

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is facing a shortage of pilots owing to the failure of a diversity hiring scheme, a report in The Telegraph has claimed. Such is the crunch that candidates who were previously rejected and older applicants who have experience in "flying-related" roles are being urged to reapply.

It was under Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston's tenure that the Air Force pledged to having 40 per cent women and 20 per cent of personnel from ethnic minorities by 2030. As the diversity hiring policies were pushed, air chiefs were told to stop choosing "useless white male pilots", the leaked emails showed.

Afterwards, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton was forced to issue an apology as the recruitment bias came into the public domain. A group of 31 white male pilot trainees were held back, a review found. They subsequently received compensation while the Air Force admitted its hiring targets were 'unrealistic'.

Also Read | UK Woman Who Raped And Abused Children Found Dead In Prison

As per the report, the RAF is suffering from a 30 per cent shortfall in the pilots at the rank of Flight Lieutenant and Squadron Leader. With Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer pledging to put "jets in the sky" to protect Ukraine, the lack of manpower can prove stifling.

"The RAF's availability of combat pilots has been hit by a perfect storm: including woke manipulation of recruiting practices, the revival of civilian airlines post-Covid and technical issues with training aircraft, particularly engine reliability on the Hawk T2," said Mark Francois, the shadow Armed Forces minister.

"All this really matters. If we are now going to see 'jets in the sky' defending any Ukrainian peace deal then we need enough trained pilots to fly them."

According to an RAF internal briefing note titled ‘Opportunities for professional transfer to the pilot specialisation', dated March 5, personnel from other branches of RAF are being asked to reconsider their previous applications. The same document reveals a similar scheme has been unveiled to train more weapons systems operators.

Reacting to the report, an RAF spokesperson said the Air Force had "sufficient pilots and aircrew to conduct all current operations and service the front line".