Ladies and Gentlemen,
I was recently told that after April 8th 2012 (When EASA takes over european licencing regulation from the JAA authorities), you
MAY no longer be able to convert the Irish JAA licence that RYR demanded you obtain, back to your own national authority. You could in essence be stuck with an Irish licence.
I talked to several people at my own national aviation authority and could not get a totally straight answer - one was adamant that it would no longer be possible, 2 others said it was uncertain. I write this simply to inform you that there is a risk of it happening - if it concerns any of you, you should perhaps do some research...
All EASA licences will have equal status under law, just as JAA ones do at present. However, we all know that irrespective of that, many airlines have their own preferences licence-wise when they're employing people (Ryanair for example
). This is quite apart from the inconvenience of still having to deal with the IAA long after you've ejected from your present job..
If you want to do it, start the process now - the date for EASA is fast approaching (the conversion process takes a month or two).
Safe flying to all.