The U.S. Air Force is on course to graduate 1,500 new pilots during fiscal 2026 following a year of changes to its flight training model. The fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

The service began an initiative called the Future of Undergraduate Pilot Training in 2025.

The program shifts foundational instruction away from traditional military pilot training and into civilian flight schools before students begin flying military aircraft.

According to a recent Air Force release, graduating 1,500 pilots this fiscal year supports the validity of the new model.

The program is intended to help bridge the service’s shortfall of 2,407 pilots.

The projected graduation figure represents a significant marker for Air Education and Training Command, but command leadership said the effort must continue beyond that number.

“Reaching 1,500 pilots is a milestone, but it is not the finish line,” Lt. Gen. Clark J. Quinn, commander of Air Education and Training Command, said in the release.

“FUPT was built to overcome long-standing constraints including instructor shortages and aircraft availability to deliver the aviators our combatant commanders require.”

Under the Future of Undergraduate Pilot Training model, Air Education and Training Command works with civilian aviation programs. Student pilots complete foundational flight instruction through Federal Aviation Administration Part 141 certified civilian flight schools.

Those civilian schools are located across Texas, Arizona, Florida and Georgia. Students complete that portion of their training before moving into military aircraft and the military syllabus.

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The structure allows the Air Force to reserve its military aircraft, instructor capacity and available flying hours for advanced military instruction. Meanwhile, students can earn a private pilot license, instrument rating and multi engine rating through the civilian programs.

That produces a substantial change in the experience students bring into the military portion of the pipeline.

Student pilots now enter that pipeline with around 120 flight hours, compared with only 30 hours under the previous Initial Flight Training structure.

After completing the “civilian phase,” student pilots move into a military syllabus centered on the T-6A Texan II trainer aircraft.

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The syllabus also uses advanced simulation as the students work toward earning their wings, according to the Air Force release.

Because those students arrive with foundational aviation knowledge, military instructor pilots can direct their attention toward tactical fundamentals instead of basic flying skills.

That division is central to how the service is seeking to use its military training resources.

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The 19th Air Force oversees and manages all formal aircrew flying training. As part of the revised approach, it redesigned the T-6 curriculum around what the release described as a “competency-based syllabus” aligned with operational requirements.

That redesigned curriculum reduced T-6 training days by 31%. The reduction accompanies the broader effort to increase pilot production while directing military aircraft, instructors and flying hours toward advanced instruction.

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“Achieving 1,500 validates that we can scale future undergraduate pilot training, and we now continue the focus on refining the training to ensure the quality of our graduates matches the scale,” Quinn said.

His statement tied the growing number of graduates to an additional emphasis on the quality of those pilots.

The command is continuing to refine the training even as the Air Force moves toward the 1,500 pilot mark.

Quinn also credited personnel across the training system with adapting the program to the service’s needs.

“Our instructor pilots, maintainers, and support teams adapted this enterprise to meet the need, ensuring a steady flow of skilled aviators for our combatant commands,” he concluded.