Trainees' wings clipped by Air Force bosses

By CHRIS DANIELS and NZPA

Eight trainee fighter pilots have been grounded by Air Force chiefs - told they are too distracted to fly safely.

The pilots, all in the Air Force's Aermacchi 14th Squadron based at Ohakea, have been worried about employment prospects once the air combat wing is disbanded.

The junior pilots sign on for 10 years, and would have expected to move on eventually to Skyhawk attack planes. They are now concerned they will have no planes to fly after the end of this year.

Only two of the squadron's 10 pilots have been allowed to fly.

Group Captain Peter Stockwell, Air Force director of training, said the grounding was not a disciplinary matter and the eight men were not emotionally unstable.

"The concern is not from them. They would love to go flying. The concern is from their bosses, saying they are a bit distracted.

"If we assign them to go on this mission, we want them to concentrate on that. At the moment, they feel they are probably not doing that to the level they want."

Group Captain Stockwell said four other pilots in the squadron were deemed by senior officers to be all right to fly. The eight grounded pilots will be reassessed on Monday.

The Air Force has a dilemma in what to do with its air combat pilots. If the Ohakea pilots are allowed to leave the Air Force to pursue careers overseas, it may set a precedent for those working in other trades and specialties within the service.

Many other workers sign up for a similar length of service. "We can't look at this group in isolation," said Group Captain Stockwell. "We have to be fair to everybody."

The Air Force has to shed 350 of its 3100 staff by the middle of next year and the Government wants numbers reduced by a total of 700 over the next four years.

The issue of what to do with young, air combat force trainee pilots less than half way through their service is a particular problem.

A lot of money has been invested in their training and the Air Force wants a return on that if possible.

Some of the pilots can convert to flying other aircraft, assuming there are enough planes, air crew vacancies, budgeted flying time or instructors to retrain them all.

Staff can be helped to find new work. Those who go will be given redundancy pay of six weeks' pay for the first year of service and two weeks' pay for each subsequent year up to a maximum of $50,000.

Group Captain Stockwell said that the eight grounded pilots were probably not senior enough to find work with overseas commercial airlines, but were keen to fly combat aircraft.

"It's a bit like ... they want to be a racing car driver before they become a bus driver."