BBC’s File on 4 program has found that the average time for the Royal Air Force to train a fighter pilot under the Military Flying Training System (MFTS) is around seven and a half years.
Peter Gronemann [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
And as of January this year, there are 350 student pilots waiting to be trained. This has lead to some leaving the military to become commercial pilots.
File on 4 has also discovered that Ascent – the company running the MFTS – was paid by the government despite having no one attending the classes. The defense ministry explained that if it was unable to sent someone for the courses due to its fault, Ascent will get paid as if the course had run as normal.