Editorial Board

Now Hiring: Must Be Willing to Work at Mach 1

The Air Force has spent billions on new planes but has far too few pilots to fly them.

October 25, 2016 at 12:00 PM UTC

By The Editorial Board

The Editorial Board publishes the views of the editors across a range of national and global affairs.

Ain't gonna fly itself.
Photographer: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

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The U.S. Air Force has big plans to expand its fleets of fighter jets, bombers and drones. But who is going to fly them all?

The dearth of combat pilots is becoming a crisis. The Air Force could be 700 fighter pilots below its needs by the end of the year, and it is short 200 drone pilots. What's more, tens of thousands of commercial pilots are near the federally mandated retirement age of 65 -- so current Air Force pilots will soon have a lot more help-wanted ads to sift through.