The Air Force chief of staff said Wednesday he is not considering a stop-loss measure that would force airmen to stay in the service to fill a gaping pilot shortfall, appearing to reel back recent comments by another senior general.

Gen. David Goldfein, speaking at the Heritage Foundation, said despite a shortfall of 1,555 pilots, the Air Force is far from the point where it would resort to stop-loss, which has been used during wartime in the past but remains unpopular with the rank and file and instead will focus on incentives to fill the positions.