ridiculous or rational to transfer to EU to fly ?

[riot shields]

question, i think i posted something like this before but didn't get much of a response.
i find it hard to find the correct information about transfering an faa license over to european. i have over 800 pic hours, so it looks like just written and flight tests, no "training program" from what it sounds like..
my wife is a french citizen which would qualify me to work in the EU. an OPTION for me is to consider flying in the EU. a student i flew with a while back said to fly for Air France you need 2000 hours jet time, and it didn't have to be PIC. so F/O at a regional, build the time up and then apply to an EU airline. i understand i'd probably have to learn the language of the carrier i fly for, even though towers all must talk in english as well.

i mean, how rational would this be to get this done? i can't find hiring times or anything for air france, or if they are even hiring. i see some airlines dont even need to you have an eu license, just a multi commercial faa license to be F/O then they train you to get your conversion.

any information would be appreciated.

 

[skyrunner1500]

How to become an Air France pilot: http://www.devenirpiloteairfrance.com

Basically, they have no minimum hour requirement, besides the obvious JAA CPL/IFR/ME and written ATP. If you had no flying experience you could also apply for their own training center and get all ratings through them.

From what I know, the 2000hrs are a very high estimate. Most European Airlines will at least spend some time reading through your resume, once you have over 500hrs and are not flying a Jet, yet. I don't know how you got your hours and on what aircraft, but it is common for someone with around 2000hrs to have more than 1000 on Jet aircraft. They don't really like to see Turboprop experience on the resume, if you are applying for a Jet position, don't ask me why, I don't know.

The conversion into a JAA license is not really that difficult if you can spend 3-4 months studying for the ATP written. If you hold an FAA ATP all you have to do is pass the written and then do the CPL/IFR/ME checkride(all in one ride). Of course, you also have to get a JAR-FCL 3 first class medical.

 

[riot shields]

thanks for that information.
my wife is french so it has been somewhat of an option to fly for an airline abroad, so i'm looking into what it actually takes to do so.

 

[skyrunner1500]

If you have an unresticted French citizenship, because of your marriage and not only a resident/work permit you can also work in all EU-countries, which become more and more.... see: http://europa.eu/abc/governments/index_en.htm

And that gives you much more options! Are you looking only for the airlines or also corporate/charter?

 

[Gizmoflyer]

This is one of the most concise answers to this question that I have ever seen. If you do not have the ATP though I was under the impression that you had to sit all the written tests. Please correct me if I am mistaken here. From what I have read in the JARs about this, having the ATP is what makes this much simpler.

Basically, they have no minimum hour requirement, besides the obvious JAA CPL/IFR/ME and written ATP. If you had no flying experience you could also apply for their own training center and get all ratings through them.

The conversion into a JAA license is not really that difficult if you can spend 3-4 months studying for the ATP written. If you hold an FAA ATP all you have to do is pass the written and then do the CPL/IFR/ME checkride(all in one ride). Of course, you also have to get a JAR-FCL 3 first class medical.

 

[nabd30]

This is one of the most concise answers to this question that I have ever seen. If you do not have the ATP though I was under the impression that you had to sit all the written tests. Please correct me if I am mistaken here. From what I have read in the JARs about this, having the ATP is what makes this much simpler.

Gizmoflyer...check out ptc.ie...they seem to know their stuff when it comes to JAA conversions.

Also...not sure if you knew this already...but, as someone married to a French spouse, you can apply for full citizenship after 3 years of marriage, while living together oversease (i.e. in the U.S.)...that amount of time is reduced to 1 year if you're living together in France. After that one year in France, you get that French passport and you can tap into the very lucrative UK/Irish flying marekt (which, as you may know, is much much less regulated than the continental market).

Ryanair and/or easyJet might give you a look for their type-rating schemes. There are tons of Brit airlines you could apply to with that French passport.

For anyone else reading this--if you know any ITALIAN chicks let me know..I want to marry an Italian. It only takes 6 months living in Italy with an Italian spouse to apply for citizenship there. (Can you say dual citizenship=twice as many job ops???)

 

[nabd30]

PS> instead of wasting your time flying for a regional in the US, if you really want to be in the EU, move over there, get your passport (as noted above), and apply to type rating schemes at ryanair and easyjet. There is also a Dash-8/ATR operator in england called FlyBe that is looking hard for pilots...seriously, they pickup the guys who couldn't get on with the ryanair/easyjet schemes.

 

[skyrunner1500]

This is one of the most concise answers to this question that I have ever seen. If you do not have the ATP though I was under the impression that you had to sit all the written tests. Please correct me if I am mistaken here. From what I have read in the JARs about this, having the ATP is what makes this much simpler.

You are correct.

Many people are just interpretating too much into the JAR's, however almost all member-countries apply them differently. So better do some research what the "FAA friendliest" country is, to do the tests. It is very similiar to calling different FSDO's with the same question in the US...

Having an ATP of any country makes your life only easier, that you do not have to do all the groundschool, only a tiny part of it. You just go and pass the writtens (for which I would recommend at least some online-groundschool). They will also drop some chapters if you are PIC rated and current in a transport category aircraft. It is very different compared to the FAA exam.

If you have a FAA CPL you can the mentioned online-training for the JAA ATP(!!) and study for the written within 3-4 months, if you are willing to do it fast and dedicate some time for it. You do not have to do a seperate CPL written, just pass the ATP written and it also counts for the CPL. Then you just go up in the air and impress the examiner. That's it.

Many flight schools in Europe won't tell you how it really is, because they only want your (and everybody else's) money. Therefore they won't necessarily show you the fastest and most convenient way.

One thing: If you call the different authorities, try to get anything what they say in written. Otherwise they won't remember what they told you 5 minutes ago. It happened to me several times.

 

[Gizmoflyer]

Many flight schools in Europe won't tell you how it really is, because they only want your (and everybody else's) money. Therefore they won't necessarily show you the fastest and most convenient way.

One thing: If you call the different authorities, try to get anything what they say in written. Otherwise they won't remember what they told you 5 minutes ago. It happened to me several times.

Yes, most flight schools (the big ones anyway) are paper producing machines. Green paper....

Are you currently flying in the US or in Austria? If you have flown in both and are willing to enlighten me, I'd really appreciate any insights you might have as to the major differences.

 

[747Heavy]

Wow!!!! Sorry but I'm afraid most of the replies to your question has given you mis-information in regards to converting your FAA license to a JAA one!
I mean this with no disrespect but I do have the experience to say this, let me first give you my background.

I am a UK citizen, and have recently spent the last 8 months in Florida obtaining my FAA CPL/IR/ME, I am now going through the conversion to the JAA system.....and I've spent a lot of time looking into this!!!

Basically......if you have an FAA Commercial license (whether it is an ATP or a CPL) and have less than 1500 hours ttl you have to go through an approved 6 month JAA ground school and take ALL 14 yes 14 JAA written exams. (I am currently at Oxford Aviation Training and can highly recommend it!)
You then have to re take both your CPL AND IR skills tests in the EU.....then you have to do an approved MCC (Multi Crew Course) (2 weeks, no pass or fail) if you want to fly for an airline.
At the end of all this you will have a frozen JAA ATPL license that will allow you to apply to EU airlines. From experience unless you speak the local language forget jobs in mainland Europe, it's very rare they will take Americans.
However one previous poster mentioned an airline called Flybe, well I've worked for Flybe for the last 3 years in operations and yes they are recruiting for the Dash 8 Q400 fleet but you will need a JAA license and the right to live and work in the UK to. I'm not sure your connections through your French partner will allow this, you'd have to check.

If you have over 1500hrs ttl time (a portion of which must be turbine time), you still have to do ALL 14 exams but don’t have to undertake an approved course.

The JAA system is VERY different to the FAA system, the FAA ground school in no way prepares you for the amount of work that has to be done for the JAA exams, people liken it to doing a university degree in 6 months!!!
But it is obtainable otherwise I wouldn't be doing it!
I loved the FAA system, it's much more practical whereas we tend to "analise" things here towards ground school.

Anyway PM me if you have any further questions, hope this helps!!!

 

[skyrunner1500]

See: that is why I stated to do an intensive research first, in which country you decide to do your conversion. Once you hold your initial JAA license you can easily transfer the license and your medical to any other JAA country just by filling out two forms. The UK isn't always the easiest way to do it initially...

747heavy: reread my previous posts. I said exactly the same thing. I just mentioned that if you are able and willing to dedicate some time to it, it is absolutely doable in a reasonable amout of time. And before you ask: Yes, I also have full FAA and JAA licenses and also another commercial license from a third country and I'm very well aware of what authorities can and will do if you talk to them in a friendly way. The smaller and more personal countries might be able to work out a customized solution for your situation and experience.

Oxford is for sure a good school, but there are also other options on the horizon that will deliver exactly the same product with the same quality and amount of time and they might be even cheaper. But it all depends on the individual and what you are looking for.

And as you probably know, there are also some online ground school programs out there that allow you to do most of the training how fast and where you want. There's no need to sit the whole 4-6 months in a classroom.