Trainee RAF pilots face year-long wait to start flying lessons due to training ‘shambles’
Trainee Royal Air Force pilots will have to wait up to a year to start flying lessons as commanders work to fix chronic problems with training that have prompted some recruits to quit, Sky News has learnt.
A leaked document reveals a plan to reduce the flow of personnel into the initial phase of flying training to ease a logjam in the pipeline.
This is the elementary part of the programme Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has just announced will be opened up to Ukrainian pilots. They will not be affected.
The situation is particularly challenging for British fast jet recruits, with the RAF forced to ask other nations, including Italy, Spain and Saudi Arabia, for slots on their courses.
One trainee aviator, who eventually gave up on a military career after spending so long stuck in limbo waiting for training, said: “I and the majority of aircrew are resentful at having had our time wasted through shoddy organisation in a service that doesn’t value its personnel.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, they added: “I am not alone in feeling massively let down by senior officers after we’ve given up so much personally to serve UK security.”
Sky News revealed last year that hundreds of trainees were spending months – sometimes years – on hold, waiting to progress through the training system.
This was despite Defence Secretary Ben Wallace telling Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, the head of the air force, that his only priority was to fix flying training when took on the role in 2019.
The delays were caused by a variety of factors, including engine issues on a fast jet training aircraft and a “damaging drain” of flying instructors quitting the military for jobs in industry.
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Ultimately, a reduction in the capacity of the military flying training system (MFTS) over time in line with cuts to the size of the air force means the whole training pipeline – which was largely privatised around 15 years ago under a contract led by the defence company Lockheed Martin – is far more vulnerable to external shocks, multiple defence sources said.
A ‘damaging drain’ of instructors has fuelled issues. Pic: MOD
The leaked document – entitled “MFTS pipeline executive summary May 2023” – gave an update on the situation, listing improvements but admitting challenges remained.
It “isn’t perfect yet and many of you are still experiencing holds for longer that I would wish”, according to the 11-page report, written by a commander whose name was not given.
The file revealed that out of 770 aircrew trainees, almost two-thirds – some 490 personnel – are in between courses or holding. The figure comprised pilots and rear crew.
The RAF said the number of so-called “holdies” – personnel waiting for courses – was a reduction from a year ago and that the hold time is shorter.
A message from RAF career management, included in the report, thanked recruits for their “unwavering patience, cooperation and understanding”.
“We know that the process of flying training can be both challenging and rewarding, but it can also be frustrating at times. Your willingness to work through these challenges with us has not gone unnoticed… The current situation is a lot better than it was in August 2022.”
‘It’s been a complete, embarrassing mess’
However, a defence source with knowledge of the delays, said: “It’s been a clusterf***.”
Retiring RAF chief Sir Mike Wigston was tasked with fixing problems
The source, speaking anonymously, criticised how the chief of the air staff, who is due to retire next week after almost four years in charge, has dealt with the crisis.
“Like everything else, it’s always someone else’s fault and there is no accountability,” the source said.
“It’s been a shambles since he took over and remains a complete, embarrassing mess.”
Persistent delays
A second, informed defence source, also speaking anonymously, said persistent delays over many years meant the average age of a new pilot in a frontline squadron was now nearly 30 compared with being in their early 20s.
He said this was something “no senior officer ever wants to address… You have f***** up people’s development and career progression”.
Engine woes with the Hawk aircraft have caused problems for fast jet training
The document offered an update on all aspects of flying training across the RAF, Royal Navy and Army – from basic training to learning how to operate fast jets, helicopters and other aircraft such as transport and spy planes.
It described a number of “pipeline optimisation initiatives” to reduce the length of time people are on hold, but warned: “The optimisation initiatives are not instantaneous, time is required to ensure the pipelines can properly stabilise meaning that for the next 12-18-months there will still be holds in some parts of the pipeline that are longer that I would wish.”
‘Reducing inflow of trainees’
A particular focus was on beginners – those who have completed modular initial officer training (MIOT) and are ready to start elementary flying training (EFT).
“We have taken the conscious decision to optimise the pipeline by temporarily reducing the inflow of trainees to EFT,” the document said.
“For RAF pilots this will mean an increase in the post MIOT hold whilst EFT loading is moderated between October 2023 and March 2024.
“For some exiting MIOT this financial year this may mean a pre-EFT hold of up to 12 months, but this is a temporary measure and holds will rapidly reduce from March 2024.”
The move is aimed at “stabilising the entire training pipeline by next year”.
Outsourcing fast jet training
But problems look set to persist for anyone wanting to go on to fly Typhoon or F35 Lightning II fast jets because of ongoing engine woes with the Hawk training aircraft.
“I would ask for patience from those of you within the FJ pipeline as this work progresses – there will be impacts to some class numbers and dates going forward but we are doing our best to ensure that these are minimal,” the document said.
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A key mitigation appears to be outsourcing British fast jet flying training to allies, including four slots a year for the next three years at Italy’s fighter pilot school in Sardinia from this summer.
“The team continue to investigate other overseas training options including Canada, Saudi Arabia and Spain,” the document said.
It all comes as the UK prepares to start giving Ukrainian pilots elementary flying training as part of an effort by allies to help Kyiv operate western fast jets to combat Russia’s invasion.
The RAF said that this offer would not impact the training of British pilots.
System ‘wholly unfit for service’
However, the former trainee aviator, said he believed the entire UK flying training system “is wholly unfit for service”.
“We receive far fewer training hours impacting our flying ability and this is compounded by mundane waiting times of years between flying courses, spent at desks doing mind-numbing work,” the individual said.
“There is a feeling among pilots that decisions are made on a politically-correct agenda by a stagnant, management consultant-esque senior leadership, hiding behind laptops, rather than the ambitious, operationally-minded military commanders we, the RAF and the UK deserve… I left because I no longer had an air force I was proud to serve.”
Proactive measures
Asked about the criticism of the flying training system, an RAF spokesperson said: “The UK military flying training system continues to deliver the right number and highest standard of aircrew to the front line.
“Criticism of the system, focused on individual views and historical issues, ignores the variety of proactive measures that have been introduced and that both holding and training times have reduced and will continue to do so.
“The facts are that the training pipeline continues to deliver the aircrew we need, when we need them, enabling the RAF to deliver exceptional air power on operations around the globe.”
‘Embarrassed’
But Howard Wheeldon, a defence analyst with specialist knowledge on the RAF, said flying training remained problematic even as Air Chief Marshal Wigston prepares to retire, with Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton due to take over as service chief from the start of June.
“I would say that the situation that he’s passing on to his successor is one that he would have been very, very embarrassed to have found when he took office,” Mr Wheeldon said.
“So, in other words, we’re not in a good position. There’s a long, long way to go.”
A police officer described the students stabbed to death in Nottingham last summer as “proper butchered” and said officers “tried to hold their inners in”.
Sky News can reveal the “disgusting” police WhatsApp message sent in the aftermath of the killings of Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar on 13 June 2023.
Their families are horrified by the language used by an officer when discussing the stabbings with colleagues.
Valdo Calocane, 32, a paranoid schizophrenic, stabbed the two 19-year-olds to death as they walked home from a night out before flagging down and killing 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates.
At the time, one officer messaged colleagues on a WhatsApp group.
The message said: “So 2 students on Ilkeston road have been proper butchered, 4 section [officers] turned up and tried to hold their inners in. Suspects then made off and attacked a man in a car on magdala [road] and stabbed him to death.”
Another officer, PC Matt Gell, then shared the message outside of the police WhatsApp group with his wife and two friends.
The families of Barnaby and Grace learned of the contents of the message in February but were so disturbed by its contents that they have only felt comfortable publicising it now, despite the pain it causes them.
Grace’s father, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, said the message is “so disgusting”.
Valdo Calocane was given a hospital order for the killings. Pic: PA
“Would anyone with a child, a mother, a relative use words like that?” he asked.
“Why have police in Nottinghamshire forgotten that these are our dear and beloved children they are referring to? I have tears in my eyes every time the message echoes in my head,” said Dr Kumar.
“The message is as barbaric as the crime for me.”
Nottinghamshire’s chief constable Kate Meynell acknowledged to Dr Kumar that some of the WhatsApp message was “crude and distasteful”.
‘Callous and degrading’
Emma Webber, Barnaby’s mother, has now written an open letter to the members of the WhatsApp group after requests to meet the officers involved were rejected by the force.
“The callous, degrading and desensitised manner of your comments have caused more trauma than you can imagine,” she wrote.
“When you say ‘a couple of students have been properly butchered’ did you stop to think about the absolute terror that they felt in the moment when they were ambushed and repeatedly stabbed by a man who had planned his attack and lay waiting in the shadows for them?
“When you say ‘innards out and everything’ did you think about the agony they felt and the final thoughts that went through their minds as this vicious individual inflicted wounds so serious that they had no chance of surviving?”
Caretaker Ian Coates was also murdered in the rampage. Pic: Huntingdon Academy
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‘Murderers can get away with murder’ – victims’ families
Mrs Webber’s letter also calls for tougher action for the officer involved.
“Anyone who can witness the details of such a horror as happened… and refer to lost children as butchered animals; should seriously consider their position,” she says.
“So, to the author of that message, who we understand has received a management warning. I pray you will read this and pause for a while.
“Dig a little deeper for compassion and care. Show the respect in the future that you did not afford Barney.”
PC admits ‘lapse of judgement’
The officer who wrote the message did not face a misconduct hearing but received ‘management intervention’.
In January, PC Gell, who forwarded the message to people outside the force, was found guilty of gross misconduct and given a final written warning after he looked up records relating to Calocane when he had no part in the investigation.
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Forensics officers at the scene after the June attacks. Pic: PA
The panel at the hearing agreed with his acknowledgement that he had “a lapse of judgement”.
A special constable was also sacked for viewing body-worn footage of the two students in their final moments.
Almost 180 police staff were found to have viewed material relating to the case, with 11 of them having no “legitimate reason” to do so.
Nottinghamshire Police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct after the families raised a number of concerns over the investigation and police conduct, including the force’s failure to inform relatives their Professional Standards Directorate was investigating officers.
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The College of Policing is also conducting a review of how the force handled the case.
Deputy Chief Constable Steve Cooper previously told Sky News that action over the WhatsApp message was taken “immediately”.
“Some of the words were crude and distasteful. It was a single message and no images were taken or shared,” he said.
The post office scandal extends “greatly beyond” faulty Horizon software, according to a lawyer for victims.
Paul Marshall, representing former sub-postmasters, says problems with third party systems in branches, such as ATMs, have been “overlooked”.
A 2013 report commissioned by the Post Office, and not made public at the time, states: “Removing the ATM reduces the risk of (the sub-postmaster) being suspended… as does the presence of lottery tickets, (banking) services, and DVLA processing.”
It indicates there were issues known to the Post Office with third party systems within branches – separate to Horizon software.
Barrister Paul Marshall believes, as a result, there are “no convictions” secured by the Post Office against any sub-postmaster “that could or should properly be treated as safe”.
He says evidence of third party errors, such as ATMs, shows “the scandal extends considerably beyond, greatly beyond, it might be said, the limited focus of bugs in Horizon”.
Blanket exoneration legislation being introduced this summer will only quash convictions brought about “by erroneous Horizon evidence”.
Mr Marshall asserts that postmasters who have had appeals against convictions rejected by the Court of Appeal may have lost because their offences didn’t fall within the “narrow scope” of Horizon issues.
“Horizon was the only accounting system,” says Mr Marshall, “so other systems like ATM machines, bank giro payments, pension payments, lottery tickets, they’re all processed by Horizon, but they weren’t Horizon.”
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Review into another Post Office system
“The position adopted by the Court of Appeal,” he states, “is if this is a Horizon shortfall case, that is the sole basis you can have your conviction overturned.
“But you could lose your business and have an accounting shortfall that has got absolutely nothing to do with Horizon.”
The report by Detica, a consulting division of BAE systems, concluded that “Post Office systems are not fit for purpose in a modern retail and financial environment”.
Chirag Siphura’s case – ATM shortfalls
Chirag Sidhpura received interim compensation last year
Chirag Siphura was threatened with prosecution for ATM shortfalls at his branch in Surrey in 2017, four years after the Post Office received the Detica report.
He was ordered to pay £57,000.
Last year he received interim compensation, with Post Office accepting it was a “Horizon related” issue.
He says that the banks “used to be able to access the ATM remotely”, and that they would carry out updates, “but where the updates happened remotely the figures were always thrown out”.
Mr Siphura describes how the Post Office “always believed the figures that the ATM was giving were 100% correct”.
“If the bank came back and said ‘no, this figure is not correct’,” he continues, “then the Post Office will always take their word over our word.
“And we would then have to come up with evidence to demonstrate their figures are wrong.”
With an IT background Chirag was able to eventually investigate.
IT expert Jason Coyne: Many more impacted.
Jason Coyne believes believes many more people affected by third party systems may not have come forward
IT expert Jason Coyne, hired by Alan Bates and other sub-postmasters, submitted a report as part of their High Court case in 2016.
He describes asking the Post Office for information related to third party systems, such as ATMs.
“They would attempt to resist my request for information,” he says, “because what they would say is this isn’t Horizon information and therefore it’s outside of the Horizon trial.”
He says that the High Court judge at the time, Mr Justice Fraser, was “rightly trying to keep the Horizon trial just about the Horizon system”.
“But what he didn’t know at the time,” he continues, “…is that all of these third party systems were absolutely critical to Horizon’s operation” so it was “wrong of Post Office to prevent us access to those documents.”
Mr Coyne believes “many more people” affected by third party systems may not have come forward to date – separate to those already identified as having Horizon issues.
Wendy Cousins case: “My wife died totally innocent”.
Wendy Cousins is shown on her wedding day. Pic: Paul Cousins
Wendy Cousins was convicted of stealing £13,000, relating to pension payments, from her branch in 2005.
Judges at the Court of Appeal ruled that the Horizon computer software had not been “essential” to her prosecution, and upheld her conviction.
She died in February 2022 – less than a year later.
Her husband Paul says he believes her conviction “was a factor in her premature death” from cancer.
“She was treated as a criminal right from the very start,” he says, “…they stuck a sign on the door saying ‘Closed’.”
Paul Cousins says Wendy was persuaded to plead guilty to escape jail.
He is convinced of her innocence and wants her case reviewed again.
“My hope would be that Wendy will be exonerated,” he says.
A Post Office spokesperson said: “We are deeply sorry for the pain which has been suffered by so many people throughout the Horizon IT Scandal.”
They added: “We remain focused on supporting the inquiry.”
In a statement the Department for Business and Trade said it was “committed to righting the wrong of the past and have introduced urgent legislation to overturn the convictions of hundreds of postmasters before the summer.
“If any further injustices emerge, these can be considered by the Criminal Complaints Review Commission, which can ask the Court of Appeal to overturn convictions,” the statement added.
UK
Former Democratic Unionist Party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to appear in court charged with rape
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, will appear in court this morning charged with rape and other historical sex offences.
The 61-year-old, who is Northern Ireland’s longest-serving MP, was suspended by the party following his arrest last month.
In a statement at the time, the DUP said: “The Party Chairman has received a letter from Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP confirming that he has been charged with allegations of an historical nature and indicating that he is stepping down as Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party with immediate effect.
“In accordance with the Party Rules, the Party Officers have suspended Mr Donaldson from membership, pending the outcome of a judicial process.”
In his resignation letter, he said he would be strenuously contesting the charges.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had been arrested at his home in County Down the previous morning and taken to Antrim Police Station for questioning.
In a short statement, the Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed that a 61-year-old man had been charged with “non-recent sexual offences” and that a 57-year-old woman, arrested at the same time, had been charged with “aiding and abetting” in connection with the offences.
Both are due to appear before Newry Magistrates Court in County Down.
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Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who has been MP for Lagan Valley for 27 years, was knighted for his services to politics in 2016.
He helped broker the DUP’s £1bn confidence and supply deal with Theresa May’s minority Tory government, when the party held the balance of power at Westminster between 2017 and 2019.
More recently, he had compromised and led his party back into the power-sharing government at Stormont, which it had boycotted for two years over post-Brexit trading arrangements.
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