Originally Posted by
Kenny
That's a cop-out. By applying for and accepting the terms and conditions any operation is offering, You are directly determining the terms and conditions. There's no indirect about it and that excuse has been used for decades by pilots to make themselves feel better when they know they're getting paid less than their peers. It's simple.
Imagine for a second that some mob starts up a new operation in OZ using Yanks on sponsored visas, the locals would go fecking ape$hit.
Also, I didn't mention Delta, I said Jetblue and Spirit.
To play devil's advocate, that has been happening for a long time now with 457 visas. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, because immigrating to the US has personally benefited me immensely, it just is.
It does tend to bother me though when pilots say, "don't come here, because we're poorly paid, and if you don't come here we might improve our T&C's". It's literally asking people to pass up an opportunity that may better their life, so that your lot in life may improve. The upshot is that even if the majority of Australian pilots had the desire to immigrate to the US (which they don't for various reasons), the impact we collectively make on the impending pilot shortage is negligible.
The benefit to the individual Aussie's career here though cannot be understated. You can largely skip a lot of the GA nonsense of home, get some jet time, have some incredible experiences, and maybe find your career destination. And thanks to the guys and girls that are putting in the effort here, there are now significant opportunities beyond just the regionals for those that wish to follow.
Just to recap those opportunities for those who haven't been paying attention:
GoJet
PSA
CommutAir (green card if you're captain qualified)
Breeze
National Airlines
Frontier
Waltzing Matilda Aviation
Mesa
Atlas
Denver Air Connection
Red Wing Aviation
These are just the opportunities that I'm aware of, I'm sure there's more. Maybe one day the advice to the next generation of pilots starting their career won't be to head north, but to head across the pond...