Air Force officials are allowing certain pilots to join a new test program that could offer up to $50,000 in bonus money per year if aviators sign extensions to their contracts.
The new program, called the Fiscal Year 2023 Rated Officer Retention Demonstration Program, is open from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15 of this year, and will allow pilots whose contracts expire in fiscal 2024 or 2025 to sign an extension for up to $50,000 a year, depending on the length of the contract.
“Retaining our experienced aviators is key to succeeding in a warfighting environment,” Brig. Gen. Kirsten Aguilar, the Air Force’s Force Management Policy director, said in a Tuesday press release. “The demo program helps posture the Air Force to reliably retain aviators to meet current and future operational requirements.”
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The National Defense Authorization Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in December directed the Air Force secretary to enact “a demonstration program to assess and improve the retention of certain officers,” according to the bill text.
The program allows active-duty manned pilots — with no more than three years, but not less than one year, remaining — to sign a contract for the maximum monetary amount one to two fiscal years prior to the fiscal year their Undergraduate Flying Training Active-Duty Service Commitment expires,…
