Hmm, not sure what your statement is trying to say. I would say, rather, the opportunities here are greater for a pilot to end up flying captain on a widebodied aircraft within 3-4 years compared with 15-20 or so years traditionally in the US. And yet only 117 US pilots here? What would you say with such a small aviation landscape in the UK, OZ, and the great white north, comparatively, that we have so many pilots from those areas? With very few exceptions, every airline in the US is hiring and recalling fuloughed pilots. Only 50 US pilots in the last year? I would say that is a fairly paltry number compared with the number of ATP pilots in the US.
It's not all gloom and doom over there. Second year pay at UPS on an MD11 right seat is similar (money wise only) to captain's third year pay here. So if it is so good in the US why have 50 come over? Probably guys at the end of their careers and guys at the beginning of theirs'. To go from the RJ to the right seat of a 777/330 is a huge leap you won't find in many places in the US, except at UPS or FedEx. And traditionally, they hire mainly ex-military pilots. So a tougher nut to crack for a civilian RJ pilot.
But thanks for the info.