Laughlin reinvents pilot production with rapid crew swaps

U.S. Air Force Capt. Garrett Sheehan, 41st Flying Training Squadron, instructor pilot, left, and U.S. Air Force Eric Maltz, 434th Flying Training Squadron, instructor pilot, right, perform a pre-flight checklist during Rapid Crew Swap (RCS) operations at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, Jan. 29, 2026. Laughlin Air Force Base functions as the proving ground for RCS procedures, allowing pilots from other undergraduate pilot training bases to gain firsthand experience with the updated training construct. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Harrison Sullivan)

Laughlin reinvents pilot production with rapid crew swaps

U.S. Air Force Capt. Eric Maltz, 434th Flying Training Squadron, instructor pilot, makes sure the jet fuel cap is tightly secured and safe for flying on a T-6A Texan II during Rapid Crew Swap operations at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, Jan. 29, 2026. By allowing pilots to perform through-flight inspections, the wing reduces ground time between sorties, increases aircraft availability, and supports future undergraduate pilot training production requirements. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Harrison Sullivan)

Laughlin reinvents pilot production with rapid crew swaps

U.S. Air Force Capt. Eric Maltz, 434th Flying Training Squadron, instructor pilot, left, discusses the pre-flight checklist with U.S. Air Force Capt. Garrett Sheehan, 41st Flying Training Squadron, instructor pilot, right, during Rapid Crew Swap operations at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, Jan. 29, 2026. Laughlin Air Force Base functions as the proving ground for Rapid Crew Swap procedures, allowing pilots from other undergraduate pilot training bases to gain firsthand experience with the updated training construct. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Harrison Sullivan)

Laughlin reinvents pilot production with rapid crew swaps

U.S. Air Force Capt. Dane Butler, 85th Flying Training Squadron, instructor pilot, checks the engine oil on a T-6A Texan II during Rapid Crew Swap operations at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, Jan. 29, 2026. By allowing pilots to perform through-flight inspections, the wing reduces ground time between sorties, increases aircraft availability, and supports future undergraduate pilot training production requirements. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Harrison Sullivan)

Laughlin reinvents pilot production with rapid crew swaps

U.S. Air Force Capt. Dane Butler, 85th Flying Training Squadron, instructor pilot, checks the engine oil on a T-6A Texan II during Rapid Crew Swap operations at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, Jan. 29, 2026. The procedure enables aircraft to return to flight more quickly by removing the requirement for maintenance inspections between local sorties, increasing operational efficiency. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Harrison Sullivan)

Laughlin reinvents pilot production with rapid crew swaps

U.S. Air Force instructor pilots from Laughlin and Columbus Air Force Base discuss Rapid Crew Swap (RCS) procedures during a planning meeting at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, Jan. 29, 2026. The new process streamlines aircraft turn times by allowing pilots to conduct through-flight inspections, increasing daily sortie production while reducing maintenance man-hours required to support undergraduate pilot training. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Harrison Sullivan)

Laughlin reinvents pilot production with rapid crew swaps

Published Feb. 5, 2026
By 1st Lt. Emily Ware
47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs

LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --

Laughlin is the first undergraduate pilot training (UPT) base to implement Rapid Crew Swap (RCS) procedures, an innovative approach shaped by the deliberate application of Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints. This procedure increases daily sorties in a shortened fly window while saving 13,200 maintenance manhours annually.

RCS is a means of sortie execution that allows pilots to perform Strange Field procedures when operating local sorites out of home station. During an RCS window, maintenance performs the first and last aircraft inspections of the day while the pilot in command executes a through-flight type of inspection with the authorized Strange Field procedure. This reduces the requirement to task maintenance for home station inspections resulting in shorter times between takeoffs while saving maintenance manhours.

“This change in procedures allows for a 45-minute reduction in turn time, making the fly window more efficient,” said Lt. Col. Imran Khan, 47th Operations Group, deputy commander. “Historically, there would be gaps of one hour or more between aircraft turns, limiting syllabus advancing sorties accomplished per day.”

The wing first tested the RCS procedure by leveraging Strange Field procedures close to home, using the local Del Rio International Airport (KDRT) for off-station sorties. During off-station operations, pilots perform their own through-flight checks, bypassing the bottleneck by allowing pilots to perform the inspections and significantly decreasing the time it takes to get the aircraft back in the air.

“We’ve seen aircraft be ready in a little as 9 minutes after parking,” said Khan. “By working with maintenance and POL, we can not only increase flight operations but decrease demands on our constrained resources and increase opportunities for flexibility in the execution of daily pilot production.”

Building on the KDRT operations, RCS procedures were approved and validated at home station with instructor pilots performing inspections, in accordance with off-station checklists, before the next takeoff. With pilots performing the inspections, more maintenance personnel are free to work on higher priority maintenance actions during the day, leading to higher aircraft availability.

"In the example of lower available aircraft, adding an additional turn for available tails is now more feasible during times of year with reduced daylight or good weather,” said Col. Joseph McCane, 47th OG, commander. “The more turns during a given day, the more benefit RCS will realize.”

During a successful 30-day trial period, ending in December 2025, Team XL flew its required daily sorties in an eight-and-a-half-hour window, a full two hours less than the previous ten-and-a-half-hour schedule, using only 45 T-6A Texan II aircraft.

Furthermore, the trial period confirmed the minimal risk associated with the procedure, as evidenced by a five-year history of over 27,000 safely executed off-station sorties where the pilot-in-command performed similar inspections.

Following the successful implementation of RCS procedures at Laughlin, the approved process will serve as a model for other 19th Air Force UPT bases, which are expected to begin implementing the RCS model in the coming months.

The benefits of using this model include flying the required number of sorties in a shortened window, using fewer aircraft to meet requirements, providing an ability to surge within a normal duty day and giving maintenance the ability to focus on repairing aircraft instead of recovering and launching aircraft.

RCS procedures not only accelerate pilot production but builds upon the foundation of Future UPT, instituting Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concepts into training practices for the Air Force’s future pilots.

"We are always looking for innovative approaches to addressing the next constraint,” said Col. Tyler Ellison, 47th FTW, commander. “This is about more than just efficiency; it's about building a better, faster, and more agile training enterprise at Team XL to produce a more capable pilot that our Air Force needs."