Originally Posted by
Lima Juliet
Easy Street
Hmmm, if you truly believe that then I suspect that we are doomed. People don’t join up to fly sims and it won’t matter what you pay - they will join up, fly a couple of tours and leave. We have a hard enough job dragging people to staff for 2-3 years, but if they hardly ever fly (apart from sims) then the excitement factor will quickly go.
Two choices: pay enough that they stay regardless of the flying rate and secondary duties, or accept a higher turnover rate in the regular force and make more use of ex-regular aircrew. (The second option needs a training system which can cope with greater throughput
)
I’m totally on board with your points rehearsed elsewhere about the whole ‘package’, pension, healthcare and all; the trouble is that the benefits have been shunted too far into the future to retain those younger than (say) 35 who need money NOW to pay mortgages, raise children and compensate for the limitations Service life places on spouses’/partners’ careers. A great pension is all very well but it doesn’t pay the bills!
(Spousal employment is IMHO a much bigger issue than many appreciate: the whole tax system is structured to strongly favour two moderate earners over one big/one small, as seen in many aircrew families. Pretty much the most tax-efficient thing our family could do is for me to take all my valuable flying experience into a reserve role and keep my pay ticking over while the Mrs gets back on the career ladder and starts using her tax allowances.)