Flying for European Airline with FAA commercial??

EdFred

EdFred

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The oldest is in one of the 1000+4year = ATP programs. He heard that you can bounce over to Europe and start flying for a Euro-carrier with and FAA commercial + IR + multi. I assume you convert to an EASA license.

He thinks thats a good way to get the 750 needed to get to 1000?

Is this true? What's the skinny on this rumor?
 
Can't add much, but as a European pilot I've never heard of this. The conversion isn't trivial, and the biggest hurdle may be getting a work visa. I've not heard of any EU carriers sponsoring US pilots for a visa, and the pilot shortage over there is much less acute so I'd be surprised if foreign pilots were being brought in.

Ask on PPRuNe, they'd know for sure.
 
As @Katamarino highlights, the conversion isn't trivial, but more importantly: won't get a work visa. Not in a Schengen area country he won't, which is where a yankee would likely want to work and frolic. It's moot.
 
If he has any family ties to an European country he might be able to get a passport/visa/work permit that way.
The license conversion is at least 14 exams and apparently a multi-engine IR training and check.
The most difficult will be the first part of the 2 requirements
 
To add on, even if he was able to get a job overseas, it’s not great. QOL and pay is severely lacking in the EU. I’d just have him CFI or get a job in the US. Building 750 hours won’t take long here, especially if he’s at a somewhat busy flight school.
 
In addition to being a CFI, there are plenty of other options for building time in the US that would be easier than converting to EASA and trying to get a job over there.
 
I didn't think it would be easy or everyone would do it. He hears stuff at school, and I didn't feel like digging for the answers. Thanks for the responses. Confirmed what I figured - mostly the work visa thing. Didn't know the conversion was so crazy though.
 
Look at the news reports about issues with pilots at the low fare airlines such as RyanAir.

It makes the old days of the first year probation pay look good. And it is not just the first year.
 
I know my daughter who has a British passport through me has looked at it and said it was not worth the effort for the pay…absolutely worthless data point I know and only thing I know about this subject.
 
Typical Ryanair pilot salary is about 50,000 Euro per year.

In western Europe, that is not really a living wage.
 
1) Congrats for digging into options for him.
2) Is May 20 still the date? If so, I assume it is a POA fly in of some sorts??? :D
 
Busflyer said:
You do NOT want to fly for Ryanair.
Click to expand...

Out of experience i can say it is a great company as a first job. And it is jokingly called the biggest flight school of europe.
In Europe, we don't have the GA scene like in the US so the airlines do hire pilots just after their cpl license. Not only ryanair but almost every other airline in Europe. (A fresh pilot is easier to train to your standards and doesn't have any bad habits he has to get rid of)
And Ryanair can be a decent company to work for if you get the base you want. You work 5 days, are off for 4 and you are home every night. Almost every day i either took the kids to school or was able to pick them up, every day i could cuddle with my wife to fall asleep. Those are the things i di miss about Ryanair.

The bad side is you have to take a lot of abuse, their own interpretations of the law, their disrespect to laws that they don't like etc.

Now, i'm away more nights which s**** but i have to work less, i get paid better AND, i get treated with respect like a human being and i am just happier.

So it's a good place to start your carreer and it can be a nice place to work later depending on what you want.
 
Andy Appeltans said:
Out of experience i can say it is a great company as a first job. And it is jokingly called the biggest flight school of europe.
In Europe, we don't have the GA scene like in the US so the airlines do hire pilots just after their cpl license. Not only ryanair but almost every other airline in Europe. (A fresh pilot is easier to train to your standards and doesn't have any bad habits he has to get rid of)
And Ryanair can be a decent company to work for if you get the base you want. You work 5 days, are off for 4 and you are home every night. Almost every day i either took the kids to school or was able to pick them up, every day i could cuddle with my wife to fall asleep. Those are the things i di miss about Ryanair.

The bad side is you have to take a lot of abuse, their own interpretations of the law, their disrespect to laws that they don't like etc.

Now, i'm away more nights which s**** but i have to work less, i get paid better AND, i get treated with respect like a human being and i am just happier.

So it's a good place to start your carreer and it can be a nice place to work later depending on what you want.
Click to expand...

This pretty much sums up what I’ve heard.

IF you get the base you want your home every night is the only positive.

Negatives are :
The bad side is you have to take a lot of abuse, their own interpretations of the law, their disrespect to laws that they don't like etc.

Now, i'm away more nights which s**** but i have to work less, i get paid better AND, i get treated with respect like a human being and i am just happier.

Thanks for making my point.

Their owner has quite a reputation
https://www.theguardian.com/business/shortcuts/2013/nov/08/michael-o-leary-33-daftest-quotes
 
Wonder about expanding the search to other continents. One guy I met went to the UAE to fly. He claimed they were hiring at 500 hours. Probably full of it.
 
I worked with a guy about 10 years ago that went and got a job with one of the airlines in Russia flying A320s with a wet Multi cert. His family was originally from Russia though, so I think he was able to use that to his advantage.
 
Pretty much every ex-pat airline job is going to require a work visa, so you have to find the countries that want to sponsor an American and the find the airline that wants an American.

I’d be looking at Alaska or the Grand Canyon before I’d go looking elsewhere.

And you couldn’t pay me enough to work for an ME3 carrier, much less any of the lesser ME carriers.
 
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