Originally Posted by
rudestuff
What do you mean by 'aviation school' - if you mean learning to fly then that takes as long as you want it to take - anything from 6 months to never.
There us no such thing as a Frozen ATPL in the US. You're either a CPL or an ATP. fATPL is a European term meaning CPL/IR who's passed the ATPL exams (which require 6-12 months of study and are a big deal). The ATP exam in the US is one test which you can pass with a few days of study so its not such a big deal. A typical fATPL holder can be flying jets in Europe with 200 hours, but in the US before you can even touch a big jet you'll need an 'actual' ATP. That means 1500 hours which you'll need to get, most likely as a flight instructor. So no - you won't get hired straight out of flight school like you could in Europe. But unlike Europe, where you'll be getting rejection letter after rejection letter, possibly for years - in the US you'll be swallowed up into a well oiled machine. You'll do 2-3 years a a flight instructor, get your 1500 hours be almost guaranteed a spot at a commuter airline, maybe even better. Europe could get you into a Jet sooner, but possibly not at all because the entry jobs are so few and far between. The US definitely won't see you flying anything too exciting for the first 1500hrs, but you will be flying, and after 1500 hours there are infinitely more possibilities. Airlines are hiring greencard holders right now. All they care about is that you're legal and can fly. Plus of course, learning to fly in the US is 1/4 the price as you only need 50 hours in an airplane to get a CPL.
Thanks for your detailed question. So after receiving the fATPL in Europe and do all the necessary stuff in America (CPL etc), I assume I have to convert my licence into the FAA one? And as long as I get 1500 hours, you do not think that no university degree will be a problem (as it is now at least)?