RAF Harrier pilots given £100,000 pay-off...but their Navy counterparts will receive nothing
By SIMON WALTERS
Last updated at 12:36 AM on 11th April 2011
A row has broken out over claims that sacked Harrier pilots in the RAF are being given payoffs of nearly £100,000 each – while their counterparts in the Navy receive nothing.
The jobs in both services are going as a result of the Government’s controversial decision to scrap Harrier jump jets as part of multi-billion-pound defence cuts.
Well-placed sources say there is a huge gulf in the packages offered to sacked pilots in the RAF and the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm. RAF pilots are reportedly being offered 18 months’ pay plus a lump sum of £30,000. In some cases the total figure is close to £100,000.
Pilot payout: The sacked Harrier pilots in the RAF are reportedly receiving a six-figure sum - but it's not such good news for their naval counterparts
However, The Mail on Sunday understands that Harrier pilots in the Navy have been told they must accept lesser alternative jobs in the service – or leave now with nothing.
The huge difference in the two offers has led to claims that the Fleet Air Arm, tiny compared with the RAF, is the victim of discrimination.
Ministry of Defence insiders say it means that while many of the RAF pilots can afford courses costing up to £30,000 to qualify as civilian pilots, their colleagues in the Navy are denied similar means of rescuing their flying careers.
There are currently 50 Harrier pilots in the Fleet Air Arm and 135 in the RAF. Some trainee pilots were told their jobs were going just ten flying hours short of getting their pilot’s wings.
In defence: David Cameron has spoken out in favour of decommissioning Harriers
The biggest losers are about 20 trainee Navy ‘top guns’. They have spent up to five years being trained how to fly Harriers at a cost of £5 million each. A few older, qualified Navy pilots have been offered similar terms to their RAF colleagues.
‘It is very unfair and has caused a lot of resentment,’ said a source. ‘It is bad enough for the Navy pilots to be told they are not wanted. But to be thrown out without a penny is worse. The RAF guys will have enough money to train as civilian pilots but the young Navy guys won’t. Their careers are ruined.’
Defence insiders say that one of the reasons for the discrepancy is the sheer size of the RAF compared to the Fleet Air Arm.
‘So many RAF pilots are being laid off it is impossible to find other jobs for all of them, so they had to be offered redundancy packages.
‘But the number of Navy pilots being laid off is only a few dozen, so it is much easier to disperse them elsewhere in the service,’ said the source. ‘Some of the jobs being offered are low-grade desk jobs. They deserve better than that.’
Scrapping Britain’s entire Harrier force and the Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal provoked widespread protests.
David Cameron has defended the decision to decommission Harriers while retaining RAF Tornados, now in action in Libya, saying: ‘The military advice is pretty clear. It is right to keep the Tornado as our principal ground-attack aircraft and it is right to retire the Harrier.’
An MoD spokesman said all pilots were being offered similar terms.
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RAF Harrier pilots given £100,000 pay-off...but their Navy counterparts will receive nothing | Mail Online