A research by think tank RAND has found that the U.S. Air Force should increase the Aviation Bonus (AvB) to retain its pilots as it is more cost-effective than training a new one.
Senior Airman Jeffrey Allen, U.S. Air Force [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
One of the key findings is that the service needs $10.9 million to train a F-22 pilot while a F-16 pilot costs only $5.6 million to train.