Minimizing the Loss of Student Pilots from Voluntary Attrition
Abstract
Losing a student from Air Force undergraduate pilot training (UPT) incurs both direct and indirect costs to the service. In addition to the fact that it wastes an opportunity that another Air Force asset could have used, all or part of the approximately $750,000 that a UPT training slot costs will see no return on investment. Seeking to minimize attrition from all causes, Air Education and Training Command (AETC) uses a variety of screening tools for selecting students. The largest category of student loss from UPT is voluntary attrition, called "dropping on request" (DOR). Attempting to minimize this type of attrition, in 2004 the Air Force changed the syllabus for evaluating students prior to attendance at UPT by replacing Initial Flight Training (IFT) -- a decentralized course that provided 50 hours of flight instruction and a private pilot's license -- with Initial Flight Screening (IFS), a more centralized program that offers only 25 hours of flight instruction but that demands more rigorous training and emphasizes officership. Now, five years later, we need to evaluate the effectiveness of this change. This article reports the findings of a study in which the author compared the two pre-entry (pre-UPT) training programs to determine if a significant difference exists between their UPT attrition rates (due to medical issues, failure to progress, or voluntary withdrawal). These findings should prove useful to the AETC Operations Directorate (AETC/A3) and might help guide planning for future programs in pilot training.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA597560
Entities
People
- William A. Thomas Jr.
Organizations
- David Grant USAF Medical Center