Fly Over In Europe

flyguy969

Well-Known Member
Right now I am working on my commercial and from there will get the rest of my certs. I have no family, children, ect. I have heard that over in Europe they are in need of pilots due to high cost of flight training. Can anyone give me stepping stones or advise as to whether this is possible or what I would have to do to prepare for a transition over to there. Anything would help. Thx in advance
 
To fly in Europe you need the right to work in the EU and JAA icense.

P.S.- Jwages you in Canton GA?
 
Right now I am working on my commercial and from there will get the rest of my certs. I have no family, children, ect. I have heard that over in Europe they are in need of pilots due to high cost of flight training. Can anyone give me stepping stones or advise as to whether this is possible or what I would have to do to prepare for a transition over to there. Anything would help. Thx in advance

Impossible.

Unless, you have citizenship AND money to convert your FAA licenses to JAA which will take about a year and around 35K. Now after all that you actually have to find a job...... Most prominent airlines are not hiring because a lot of them have cadet programs. You could probably find lower tier airlines but citizenship will be a problem.

The only way I see this working if is if you already have an airline lined up from your country of which you hold citizenship.
 
Citizenship is not the big barrier.

Friend of mine is a Flight Examiner doing between 3-6 Checkrides per week. On our last phone conversation we talked briefly about job opportunities. He said: "J, I keep doing stupid checkrides day after day after day, but I wonder where all these people are going to fly!"

I cannot see too many reputable airlines hiring FAA jockeys. It's just not the same, unless you show up with a frozen JAA ATPL. There are still many people with rich parents or big loans going through the cadet programs.

Good luck anyways.
 
Actually it is. You won't get in if you can't work there, even if there is massive hiring. And it's not like the US where all you need is a blessing or student visa. Not a lot of countries want immigrants.
 
Actually it is. You won't get in if you can't work there, even if there is massive hiring. And it's not like the US where all you need is a blessing or student visa. Not a lot of countries want immigrants.

This is generally correct. Citizenship is not technically required, as I have the unlimited right to work in the EU and I am a US citizen.

Specific countries can grant a work permit, and it is possible to get a validation vice conversion of your FAA certs or even a national license vice a jaa license.

Some countries are easier to get around the residency and license issues. Ireland is a salient example. That is if you are an experienced crewmember, not a newb. Also the market and demand are everything. In this mareket fogetboutit...
 
Another barrier is language. You need to speak the official language of the country where the airline is based. TAP Air Portugal, need to speak Portuguese; Air France, need to speak French; Lufthansa, need to speak German; etc...And you can't just speak basic high school French, you will be speaking that language in the interview and some even have language tests.

If you are like the majority of people educated in the US (no offense), you are only fluent in English. Meaning you can only work in the British Isles.


In Europe there are 19 year olds, 300 hour pilots flying 737's and A320's, so you can see the difference between them and us.
 
Look at Ryanair. If you give them the money for the 737NG type rating ($39000 + living expenses), they'll give you the right seat to sit in. Don't forget you get paid much more than all regional FO's here in the US that have much more experience and had to actually work hard to get where they are.


Oh wait, my mistake...you actually just need 200 hours to be considered for the job. :crazy:
 
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