The United Kingdom Ministry of Defense has published the costs of pilot training over the past five years, including all expenditures and the number of pilots participating. The figures were shared by Defense Minister Luke Pollard in response to a parliamentary inquiry, UK Defence Journal reports.
Starting 2020 and by the end of 2025, the UK Military Flying Training System program took £500.4 million (about $617.22 million) in costs for fast jet training of 82 pilots in the UK. Additionally, since 2022, 22 pilots were trained in the USA and Italy — the costs of these courses were not specified.
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The detailed costs break down as follows:
| Financial Year | UK Trained | Overseas Trained |
| 2020–21 | 24 | 0 |
| 2021–22 | 28 | 0 |
| 2022–23 | 5 | 7 |
| 2023–24 | 7 | 8 |
| 2024–25 | 18 | 7 |
| Total | 82 | 22 |
On a note from Defense Express, the disclosed figures allow the get a grasp on the demand for such professionals. For reference, as of 2024, the British Royal Air Force counted 31,700 people in service, and possessed 159 active fighter jets (127 Eurofighter Typhoons and 32 F-35Bs based on aircraft carriers). There's also many other aircraft that don't fall under the "fast jet aircraft" category and are thus omitted.
The calculation of pilot training expenditures covers the costs of all items, including — but not limited to — fuel, maintenance and repair of aircraft, infrastructure, salaries for both instructors and cadets, etc. It also gives a rough estimate of the average cost of training one pilot irrespective of exact specialization and operated fighter aircraft type: £6.1 million, or ~$7.53 million.
Just for the sake of it, let's also put to the test if a trained pilot is really worth their weight in gold. The current market price for a kilogram of gold is about $93,700. Say, the average weight of a fighter pilot is 75 kg, then a gold bar of similar weight would cost $7.02 million. So, speaking literally, training a pilot is indeed costlier than buying gold.
Lastly, we should pay attention to how the UK Royal Air Force recruits pilots. A pilot-in-training has a starting annual salary of £33,100 ($3,400 per month) + benefits. After three years of training and reaching the rank of air lieutenant, he or she gets a raise to £50,500 yearly (or $5,200 per month), which is about twice the national average. The shortest-term contract spans 12 years.
Contestants, who must be British citizens aged 17 to 23, are ought to score a minimum pass (4 out of 9) in General Certificate of Secondary Education exams in English, mathematics, and at least three other subjects, plus a minimum of 64 points out of 112 in the UCAS system — separate general exams for admission to universities and colleges. In addition, they need appropriate physical training, like being able to run 2.4 km in under 13.2 minutes, health conditions, and so on.
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