Tri-Service
Wage Error May Have Led To Pilot Resignations
Newly released documents reveal that the Army lost some of its most experienced helicopter pilots over a wage error that led the Ministry of Defence to demand they returned thousands of pounds in overpay.
The Daily Telegraph is reporting that around 200 attack helicopter pilots and instructors received overpayments of up to £30,000 each and faced action to recover the money despite officials accepting it was taken "in good faith".
The Army raised concerns that the loss of experienced pilots and instructors risked not only impacting morale, but had the potential to threaten the Apache attack helicopter squad's frontline capabilities in Afghanistan.
Defence chiefs were urged to drop their bid to recover the wages after 15 attack helicopter pilots resigned over the issue.
The Army a statement in response to the story:
"We can confirm that an overpayment of salary has been made to a number of Army aircrew personnel.We have apologised and explained the circumstances of the overpayments to all of those affected.In accordance with standard Government practice, arrangements have been made to revert their pay to the correct levels and all affected personnel are now receiving the correct pay.The overpayment of salary has resulted in an amount of debt owed by individual personnel."
Related topics
Join Our Newsletter
