Fair to say this is an emotive subject and 12 Twist's post, though completely antagonistic, shows how emotive it can really get.
I agree that the stated reason for 'Flying Pay' does not marry up with the way in which it is administered. That is wrong. The point I'd make is that if flying pay IS a stated retention incentive in order to keep enough high-calibre, expensively-trained personnel on the RAF's books then it should be paid for as long as the RAF want to retain said person(s). Once a recipient decides to PVR for whatever reason, flying pay is no longer a retention incentive in that person's eyes and should be removed. If it is hurting people financially to make this move then perhaps they should reconsider or just bite the bullet if their reasons for leaving are that compelling.
It costs a few million to train a pilot or navigator to fly the hardware on the RAF's front line. FP is a relative pittance to assure the investor that they will stay for long enough to amortise the training cost while retaining enough of a fighting capability.
Last edited by ICBM; 10th Jun 2012 at 09:10.