US Air Force to ground planes over cuts: General Hostage

One-third of the US Air Force’s active-ready combat planes are due to be grounded over the automatic spending cuts issued by Washington, a US general says.

General Mike Hostage, commander of Air Combat Command at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia, said Tuesday that fighter and bomber units would stand down on a rotating basis until the end of fiscal 2013, but that units preparing to deploy to major operations, such as the war in Afghanistan, will remain mission-ready.

The order will include a halt to some airborne warning and control aircraft in the US, Europe and the Pacific.

Officials warned that grounded crewmembers would lose some flying ability during combat commissions within 90 to 120 days of not flying.

“Even a six-month stand down of units will have significant long-term, multi-year impacts on our operational readiness,” said Major Brandon Lingle, spokesperson for the Air Combat Command.

Officials added that additional funds beyond Air Combat Command’s normal budget are required to retrain the crews back to mission-ready status.

On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama proposed a USD 3.77 trillion spending blueprint to Congress, which is reportedly billions of dollars higher than the spending caps mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act.

The 2014 budget proposal is expected to see strong opposition from lawmakers. The White House and Congress have battled for two years over budgetary issues, failing to reach common ground.