Is Europe really an open market and a good place to start?
Is Europe really an open market? ....
Here's my situation. I'm a European citizen, I'm 22 and I'm about to start my flight training. I have an option to either do it in Europe (Portugal I think, since that's where I live) or Canada. I was told that a JAA license is "better" to have than a Canadian one. I guess some countries in Africa, South America, etc, accept JAA licenses. My girlfriend is Canadian so I could work in Canada after my training if I decided to do it there. It's a lot cheaper there (about $50,000CAD which are about €30,000, as opposed to the €50,000 in Europe). I don't know how expensive it is to convert a Canadian license to JAA, I guess that would be another option.
Portugal has a pretty small market without any regionals at all. I would probably have to look for work somewhere else. My question is, can in fact any JAA license holder work in any part of Europe? Or is it all just theory, and each country always looks for local pilots?...
In Canada there are a lot more charters or flight schools where someone with low hours can instruct. Again, not being a Canadian citizen I'm not sure if it would make it harder for me to find a job.
I'm looking for advice. I know this is a huge community and everyone knows how the industry "thinks". Is Europe really an open market for pilots? Would I have a better chance in Canada? What woudl you do? Any comments would be much appreciated.
Thanks everyone!
Daniel