Army offers up to $200,000 in bonuses to keep senior pilots

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Army offers up to $200,000 in bonuses to keep senior pilots 图片 1

As the Army cuts thousands of junior jobs in its aviation corps, the service is offering bonuses as high as $200,000 to senior pilots to remain on active duty for up to six years.

The move comes as the Army announced last year that it would cut 6,500 aviation jobs, and close down nearly all flying units in the reserves. The new Active Duty Service Obligation, or ADSO agreements, will be open to senior flyers but be capped at a soldier’s 25th year in service, according to a July 26 Army message.

“This program is essential to retain rated aviators critical to the success of the Army’s mission,” officials said in the policy memo. “The rated aviator inventory will be reviewed each quarter and the [aviation bonus] program will be adjusted to meet the needs of the Army.”

Before the last year of cuts, aviation retention swung in the opposite direction as Congress and the services scrambled to retain military aviators who were opting out of the service in large numbers and moving on to fly with commercial airlines. In the fiscal year 2017 national defense bill, Congress authorized the maximum amount of incentive pay for aviators across the services. The Army also began offering 10-year contracts to new pilots to keep them in the service longer.

Army offers up to $200,000 in bonuses to keep senior pilots

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