Among those very old—and costly—aircraft the Air Force wants to retire are some 100 KC-135E tankers. (See above.) Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told lawmakers Monday at a House Appropriations defense panel hearing that there are 109 E model tankers that “cannot be deployed.” These old tankers are caught up in the Congressional restrictions that have precluded USAF from being its own “fleet manager,” said Wynne. Gen. Michael Moseley said that the maintenance price tag in 2008 for all the locked down aircraft—older B-52s, C-5s, C-130s, KC-135Es, and U-2s—will be “somewhere between $4.5 million and $4.7 million a day to maintain.”
Air Force Changes Rules for Pregnant Aircrew—Again
April 3, 2025
The Air Force is changing its policy for pregnant aircrew, generally reverting to rules set in 2019 that barred female aviators from flying during the first trimester—or from flying in aircraft with ejection seats at all—due to potential risks to the pilot and her unborn fetus.