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This article is about the professional head of the Royal Air Force.

For the head of the Indian Air Force, see Chief of the Air Staff (India).

For the most senior appointment in the Royal Australian Air Force, previously known as the Chief of the Air Staff, see Chief of Air Force.

Chief of the Air Staff can also refer to the head of the Canadian Forces Air Command.

The Chief of the Air Staff's command flag, the Royal Air Force Ensign

The Chief of the Air Staff is the professional head of the Royal Air Force and a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Air Force Board. The post was established with the formation of the RAF in 1918, and its first occupant, Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Hugh Trenchard, was key in the establishment of the RAF as a separate service.

After Lord Trenchard retired in 1929 his successors still had to fight to keep the RAF separate from the Royal Navy and the British Army, but Trenchard's foundations proved too solid.

By the time World War II broke out in 1939, the then occupant of the post, Air Chief Marshal Sir Cyril Newall, had a service that had been undergoing the most rapid of expansions during the British rearmament programs of the late 1930s. Newall gave way in 1940 to Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal, who lead the service for the rest of the war. Portal was a tireless defender of the RAF and extremely able in administration and strategy.

Postwar the RAF was reoriented to perform the dual roles of defending the shrinking British Empire and possibly fighting against the Soviet Union in a Warsaw Pact verses NATO war over Germany and the United Kingdom. The Chiefs of the Air Staff of the day had to fight a constant battle to keep the British aircraft industry alive. In the end only minimal success was achieved, with only a rump aviation industrial base left by the 1970s.

The Chief of the Air Staff is normally appointed an Air Aide de Camp to the British sovereign. His deputy is the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff.

• 3 Jan 1918 - Major General Sir Hugh Trenchard
• 13 Apr 1918 - Major General Sir Frederick Sykes
• 22 Jan 1919 - Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Hugh Trenchard
• 1 Jan 1930 - Air Chief Marshal Sir John Salmond
• 1 Apr 1933 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Geoffrey Salmond
• 28 Apr 1933 - Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Salmond
• 22 May 1933 - Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Edward Ellington
• 1 Sep 1937 - Marshal of the Royal Air Force the Lord Newall
• 25 Oct 1940 - Marshal of the Royal Air Force the Lord Portal
• 1 Jan 1946 - Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Tedder
• 1 Jan 1950 - Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Slessor
• 1 Jan 1953 - Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir William Dickson
• 1 Jan 1956 - Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Dermot Boyle
• 1 Jan 1960 - Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Thomas Pike
• 1 Sep 1963 - Air Chief Marshal the Lord Elworthy
• 1 Apr 1967 - Air Chief Marshal Sir John Grandy
• 1 Apr 1971 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Denis Spotswood
• 1 Apr 1974 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Humphrey
• 7 Aug 1976 - Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Neil Cameron
• 10 Aug 1977 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Beetham
• 15 Oct 1982 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Williamson
• 15 Oct 1985 - Air Chief Marshal The Lord Craig of Radley
• 14 Nov 1988 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Harding
• 6 Nov 1992 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon
• 10 Apr 1997 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Johns
• 21 Apr 2000 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Squire
• 1 Aug 2003 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup
• 13 April 2006 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy

1. ↑  The ranks shown are the highest rank that the officer in question attained during his tour as Chief of the Air Staff. However, in the case where the officer was promoted on the day before he was posted, then the lower rank is shown.

• Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)
• First Sea Lord / Chief of the Naval Staff
• Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)
• Chief of Air Force (Australia)