If not Air France, then who?

[Permafrost_ATPL]

Since I have pretty much come to the conclusion that I can forget Air France (4 years waiting list for the assessment, then 2 years to go on a course), I am wondering whether it's worth looking at other French operators. I'm bilingual English/French, so I figured I should not limit my search to British operators (I just finished modular fATPL with 290 hours TT).

Rumour has it that most French operators (except for Air France, where you just need to be very patient) are very hard to get into if you don't know someone on the inside. Anybody has any experience with that? And if the rumour is mostly false, what are the operators I should focus on given my experience (see above)?

Thanks!

[BlueVolta]

Have a look at the french equivalent of PPrune www.eurocockpit.com , you will feel the french "ambiance"...
Getting into AF is unfortunatelly not just a matter of time as you seems to think, it's a little bit more complicated.
You will have more opportunity in UK that in France for sure.
But you can always try and you may succed in getting a job with a french operator.
Good luck!;)

[Manflex55]

I'm bilingual English/French Alors pourquoi poster en anglais sur un forum français?
Sinon je suis d'accord avec BV pour dire que les opportunités sont bien plus nombreuses en Angleterre qu'en France. C'est particulièrement vrai dans l'aviation d'affaires où je sévis depuis 6 ans.