thehobbit
Well-Known Member
Africa is very vast, usually most Americans that end up flying over there are experienced guys joining operators that work with the UN or NGOs, or Missionary pilots. There are companies that have Americans flying for them, I believe Nyassa Air Taxi has some former LAB pilots. There are also many Americans flying in TZ.
The location and companies presented in the show, are targeted to low timers, pay is very low so I see it very hard to make it if you have a loan back in the US, some of the UK pilots said to have a loan, and so did pilots that have flown with me, but their parents were covering the bills, a good 80% had no bills and moved down to Africa or other parts of the world worry free. Bush flying has always been a way for many Europeans to jump start their career, just how CFIing is in the US, most of all the companies in Africa are either run by Europeans or South Africans.
In my travels as bush pilot I met pilots from all over, Americans made up for maybe a 4-5%. Most were European, Canadians and Kiwis, I was told by an HR guy once that pilots from this regions usually adapt better to the standards of living found in many 3rd world countries, Americans tend to have higher expectations, I lived this on my skin when I was at SUSI Air Indonesia, the only Americans there at the time (it has changed now) were flying the Piaggio Avanti and were there only for the money, I was told that they had several low timers from the US to start from the bottom but they all lasted very little has they had an hard time to cope with the place.
The biggest deal breaker is having a loan, I interviewed with companies that would not take on anybody with a loan or ties back home (wife, children,..).
I do wish more companies were run by Americans, from my personal experience customers service and organization is generally way better in their hands, this has to do with having to deal with a much more demanding customer back in the US. As a pilot I didn't liked so much flying Americans tourists that do this kind of trips (generally very very wealthy), they would complain most of the time and have much higher expectations on everything, Australians were the easiest to deal with, everything could go wrong and they wouldn't care as long as you could find them a place to crash and cold beers, Europeans (minus the French) were the only ones to leave tips, on average I would get 25-50 USD from each couple I would fly per trip.
Why would a loan be a deal breaker? Wouldn't someone with a loan be more inclined to keep their job?