Fly AMERICA - Goat stew to gumbo
So, like dozens of my countrypeople pilots I am an Aussie pilot having heard and responded to the call coming from across the Pacific “please come fly for us, we will provide you with a ATP and type rating” ok sounds good. Some opportunities go further “hey you know what we will provide you with flights to and from the USA and a healthy signing bonus to boot” ok sounds even better.
So having always enjoyed traveling and with a like minded partner I signed on the dotted line and voila am now sitting enjoying some local goat stew from Curacao, to be shortly followed by Gumbo as I head to New Orleans tomorrow on non revenue flights business class. My circumstance has allowed three distinct “holidays”between the training slots due to the backlog in training with my particular airline, each of these whilst being paid and being able to fly to 2/3 of the world for mere pennies.
The USA is a monster, a giant economy of which the airlinel sector is a integral cog. Coming out of the little Aussie market I was blown away with just how many career opportunities are available as long as you met the criteria of 1500 hours, requisite industry experience and formal training in aviation. A lot of my peers actually can’t believe that they have just been offered a job to fly a regional jet when they get the first offer and I have seen them jump at that. My advice would be to remember that the scare commodity now is actually the PILOT = you, so the first offer may not be best fit, take your time to decide what you really want in terms or things like start date, etc. I have had no problem in employers accommodating my requests.
Personally I took the second offer as this allowed the best fit for me. Having two consecutive summers, instead of consecutive winters was an easier transition. Having better travel benefits to relocate myself and family and having more certainty as to which city I would be based in were all part of my decision. As I have already said the US market is big enough to allow you the luxury of this type of choice.
So ATP and type rating in hand I reflect on the journey last few months. The US certainly presents friendly skies to the Aussie with a professional attitude. I found the breaks in my training allowed my to be best prepared in the indoc, systems, other ground school and simulator phases of training and thereby reduced the stress factors associated with the steep learning curve of the first jet. My peers, Captains I was paired in training, instructors and guys and gals I met whilst jump-seating to date have been “true gentlemen and women of the skies”.
The move to a new country is a giant step in life, but it is one through which we can really develop our boundaries and I would completely recommend it after you perform some in depth homework on your new employer. I personally know many pilots at both the number 1 employer of Oz pilots and the second and third place getters in terms of numbers flying there.
The match you make will really be a big part of your experience, is it union or non union, base certainty, time on reserve, benefits like travel and when these are available, time to upgrade, how they treat their staff, etc, etc and etc. the general feedback I have from the primary choices made by Aussies is good to great, but there are some less attractive options if you don’t do the homework. The resources on the web are immense and fully allow you to get this knowledge with little effort. As already pointed out above a few hours on US specific forums like airlinepilotforums will pay big dividends in making the right decision.
I personally have no regrets whatsoever and have only very minor gripes with my choice, these are far outweighed by the quality of training, immediate benefits and team I now work within.
My info gathering was very much assisted by this forum and stars like Havick, bafanguy et al and I thank you for helping get started on the journey. Safe Landings I want to commend you on your attitude, which in my view is the single most import aspect to getting through training.
I will post an update down the road with some more hours under the belt on the actual jet, feel free to pm me if you have queries on my journey.
Re the SSN release, I had to do it in a very particular way - they definetly won’t release it by phone and they won’t print it for you on the second visit, however the agent I had agreed to read it off the screen for me to write down as when generated it becomes “my information”. Agree it will come down to each agent and an big element of luck..
Cheers from Ewemerica, Ralphi