Originally Posted by
richpea
1. I'm not sure about the deal for PPL, but for ATPL theory exams any EASA exams taken after 31 Dec 2020 are not valid for UK CAA license issue. Whilst the exams are identical the regulatory/political situation is that EASA exams are not good for CAA licenses. In that case to get a CAA license he will have to sit all the exams again under CAA.
2. If he is holding an EASA PPL, he will still be able to study in the UK for a UK CAA CPL and IR, as long as he completes the UK CAA ATPL theory exams. The prerequisite for a CAA CPL is just to hold an Annex 1 to the Chicago Convention compliant private pilots license, which an EASA PPL is. Basically, in terms of ATPL, as long as he sits both EASA and CAA exams, he should be able to get both licenses, but he might have to complete the flying training twice... once at an EASA approved ATO and once with a CAA ATO, and also fly two sets of practical skills tests. These requirements may be different if the course is considered integrated.
To clarify, on a PPL you cannot fly commercially. Holding an EASA frozen ATPL with a UK PPL will not allow you to fly UK registered aircraft commercially. However, at the moment there are airlines currently operating in the UK that will require you to hold an EASA license only to fly with them, whilst there are also airlines that will only accept CAA licenses. At this point the "safest" bet would be to get both, however this might not be financially, practically or motivationally easy! There is no conversion of an EASA CPL-MEIR and ATPL theory credits license to a CAA equivalent that doesn't involve basically doing everything again.
3. There are several airlines with non-type rated low hours second/first officer positions that will accept pilots with 'minimum' hours... ie 200hrs. However, these positions will usually require that the employee funds their type rating and line training through either upfront payment (a la Ryanair) or through salary deductions over a bonded period of time (such as Wizzair). Outside of these options, working as a flight instructor, skydiver drop pilot etc. etc. are good ways to build hours, though not always particularly well paid! Outside of flight instruction these jobs can be difficult to turn up, but they are out there.
For reference I obtained a UK PPL in the UK, then sat only EASA ATPL exams and trained in Europe to get an EASA CPL-MEIR. I'll shortly be starting training with an airline in the UK on around 210 hours total time. However, I'm not able to get a UK CAA CPL-MEIR without first sitting all of the UK CAA ATPL exams and then doing some sort of flight training and skills tests for the CAA.
Hope this helps out a bit!
Appreciate you spending the time to reply. Just one further question please …
The flying hours banked studying for EASA license … I assume they “count” towards UK license … so he wouldn’t need to bank another 200 hours plus in UK .. he would simply need to sit a skills test in addition to passing the exams again ?