London, April 12: The British Ministry of Defense is facing criticism over claims that Harrier pilots in the RAF are getting hefty payoffs before leaving, while those in the Navy are given nothing.
As part of the Strategic Defense and Security Review, the government has decided to decommission harrier jump jets and sack their pilots in both the RAF and the Navy.
Yet sources said that while the RAF pilots are receiving 18 months’ pay plus a single payment of £30,000 in some cases amounting to a total of £100,000, the members of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm were told to go for lesser jobs or quit without any payment, the Daily Mail reported.
The difference in payment is especially important as the £30,000 lump sum can cover the costs of RAF pilots who seek training courses to become civilian pilots, an opportunity denied to the members of the Navy Air Arm.
The Ministry of Defense has apparently offered a few more qualified Navy pilots the same terms as their RAF counterparts.
“It is very unfair and has caused a lot of resentment,” the Daily Mail quoted a source as saying.
“It is bad enough for the Navy pilots to be told they are not wanted. But to be thrown out without a penny is worse. The RAF guys will have enough money to train as civilian pilots, but the young Navy guys won’t. Their careers are ruined,” the source added.
Sources also said the reason behind offering lesser jobs, including “low-grade desk jobs,” to Navy pilots is that they are just 50 compared to 135 in the RAF; therefore they can be crammed into other jobs in the Navy.
The Ministry of Defense has insisted that they are giving all pilots equal terms.
——–Agencies