The Royal Air Force (RAF) is facing a shortage of pilots owing to the failure of a diversity hiring scheme. Such is the crunch that candidates who were previously rejected and older applicants who have experience in \”flying-related\” roles are being urged to reapply. It was under Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston’s tenure that the Air Force pledged to having 40 per cent women and 20 per cent of personnel from ethnic minorities by 2030. As the diversity hiring policies were pushed, air chiefs were told to stop choosing \”useless white male pilots\”, the leaked emails showed. The RAF is suffering from a 30 per cent shortfall in the pilots at the rank of Flight Lieutenant and Squadron Leader. With Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer pledging to put \”jets in the sky\” to protect Ukraine, the lack of manpower can prove stifling. The shadow Armed Forces minister Mark Francois said: \”All this really matters. If we are now going to see ‘jets In The Sky’ defending any Ukrainian peace deal then we need enough trained pilots to fly them\”