Swedish Fighter Pilots Leaving En Masse Over Miserly Pay, Low Confidence

In recent years, the Swedish Armed Forces have been struggling to recruit new pilots and even retain existing staff. The wave of resignations has been blamed on a higher retirement age, low wages and withering confidence in leadership.

This autumn, the Swedish Armed Forces may lose about half its fighter pilot corps, as pilots are about to take either a leave of absence or resign completely, national broadcaster SVT reported.

SVT ascribed the phenomenon to a combination of factors such as increased retirement age, slow wage development and low confidence in leadership.

Per-Martin Sternevi, the chairman of the Swedish Armed Forces' Interest Association (FPI), stressed that this is neither a threat nor a strike. According to him, the top brass have been aware of the criticism for several years but haven't listened.

“It is already clear that it will happen,” he told local broadcaster SVT. “All this results in incredibly low confidence in the Armed Forces' leadership,” he added.

To solve the problem of the fighter pilots' dissatisfaction, Air Force Chief, Major General Carl-Johan Edström pledged to invest SEK 600Mln ($57Mln) over the next 10 years. Among other things, a new salary structure and an investigation into the consequences of the higher retirement age have been promised. He also said he understands the personnel's frustration.

According to Sternevi, though, the investment is inadequate.

“It is bread crumbs compared with what needs to be done,” he stressed.

According to pilots, salaries haven't changed since 1999.

“I was hired in 2015 with the idea of ​​being able to retire at 55. But in 2016, the retirement age for those born in 1988 or later was changed. There are many people that age who have been trained and employed under certain conditions which are no longer relevant,” an anonymous pilot told SVT, adding that he lost confidence in the organization and is now considering resigning.

In 2016, the retirement age for fighter pilots was raised from 55 to 67, and in 1999 it was decided that the their flight certificates would only apply within the Armed Forces.

At its peak military strength during the early years of the Cold War, Sweden boasted an inventory of about 1,000 combat aircraft, giving it one of the largest and best-equipped air forces in the world.

After massive contractions once the Cold War had ended and the Soviet Union had been dissolved, today's fleet comprises some 300 aircraft, including tactical transports, helicopters and jet trainers. The Swedish Air Force at present has four wings of fighters located in Lidköping, Ronneby, Luleå and Uppsala.

In recent years, the Swedish Armed Forces have been struggling to recruit new pilots and retain existing staff. According to the military, fully training a military pilot takes 78 months.