Luftwaffe losses in 1940

[Narwan]

The confusion about available allied air stems from the reorganisation taking place within the french air force at the time of the attack. The new fighters had been delayed because of some last minute production issues; the older fighter (MS406 mainly) were about to be phased out but had to be kept in service longer than expected. Unfortunatley their production lines had already been discontinued which a shortage of spares etc quickly occured. Also, pilots were also being (re)trained on the new types. Something similar was happing with the bomber force although on a smaller scale. All in all, the german attack couldn't have come at a worst time for the french air force. Two months later and it would have been a very different picture indeed.
The brits too were in the process of rapidly increasing their strength in the air.

As it was, the germans were actually losing the air war in the may-june 40 campaign. Yeah, I know, sounds like blasphemy but it was true. The french air force for example was stronger in the second half of the campaing than it was in the first (the new models were being put into service in substantail numbers). The french were getting stronger while the germans were getting weaker. The allies were also outproducing the germans in aircraft and were winning the 'attrition' battle. They didn't realise it at the time though.
Just look at the battle of britain a couple of months later, the UK on its own brought the Luftwaffe to its knees. Just think about what would have happened if the french numbers would have been added. That gives you a rough idea of the state of affairs at the second half of the campaign of may-june 1940. It also goes a long way into explaining why the germans suffered such heavy losses. The myth of complete dominance in the sky by the germans is exactly that, a myth. Fueled by stories by) ground forces being subjected to german air attacks. To them is looked as if the germans were dominant, a view which was strengthed by the fact that both the french and british had given priority to fighters and heavy bombers while the germans had given priority to tactical bombers. That latter is the most visible to ground forces.