UK has a similar problem and scheme - though smaller in both numbers and compensation....
MoD offers helicopter pilots £70,000 to stay
Experienced helicopter pilots in the forces are being offered a £70,000 “golden handcuff” deal to stay in their jobs for six years.
Figures from the Ministry of Defence show that 1,049 helicopter pilots left the air force, army and navy during the past five years, with only 508 joining up. The army, for example, lost 201 helicopter pilots, including Prince Harry who flew as an Apache helicopter co-pilot and gunner in Afghanistan in 2012 but left in June 2015. To train an attack helicopter pilot takes four years and costs about £3.5m. The army recruited 131 pilots during the five years.
The figures have fuelled fears that helicopters could be mothballed or squadrons axed in the government’s defence review, which will be published early next year. “These figures are unsustainable,” one defence source said. “At this rate, manning squadrons will be impossible.” Kevan Jones, Labour MP and a former defence minister who obtained the figures, said they raised “questions about the government’s handling of the defence budget”.
Insiders say pilots are being poached by the commercial airline industry, which is in the grip of a pilot shortage. “The problem the MoD has is that it can’t compete financially or in quality of life with civvy street,” the source said. To entice them to stay, the MoD introduced a £70,000 payment in April for pilots with seven or more years’ experience who agree to stay for a further six years. The money has to be repaid if they leave before then.
The MoD said it “has sufficient helicopters and pilots from all three services and is able to meet all of its operational commitments and tasks at home and overseas”.