You are thinking in the European mentality. You have to change to the US mentality.
1. Get a 4 year degree
2. Your type doesn't matter like it does in Europe. What matters is:
a. Turbine time? yes or no (you've got that box checked)
b. Quality of said time? (You were flying airline ops so you have that going for you)
The point is that it doesn't matter if you were flying a CRJ, Ejet, Q400, A330, A320, or B737 etc. Don't limit yourself to A320 carriers. In the US, your chances of getting hired by a company that only flies only B737s is the same regardless if your previous time was on an A320, B737, or CRJ.
3. You probably have to attend more than one job fair
4. Update your application once or month. If you do not update your application at least once a month, the airlines do not think that you are interested
5. Network network network
6. Get some volunteer work on your résumé.
7. Get your 4 year degree
8. Get your 4 year degree
Look at it this way... you have the required flying experience necessary to get hired at the majors and the LCCs. You may be lacking in TPIC which might hurt you, but there are plenty of guys from my company (a regional) leaving with little to no TPIC so that isn't the show stopper. Get a 4 year degree, any degree. Do some networking (working at a regional is a good way to network, as you will meet guys from everywhere and you will know lots of guys who will leave and move on to a major and LCC). All majors/legacies have 12000 applications on file. You have to make your application stand out. There are almost 20,000 regional pilots, and over half of them have their applications out there. The majors combined are not hiring 12,000 pilots are year, so it could be awhile before they get to your application. Keep in mind, there are also filters before getting to the interview level which kicks out applications for whatever reason. The 4 year degree is a common filter. That's just the way it goes. Having the A320 type on your certificate is nice, but almost every company will pay for your training in type regardless.
Having said that, first year pay at the regionals sucks but companies like Skywest have good career progression and you can actually make a career out of a company like Skywest. As far as TSA, you probably would not qualify for CQFO due to not having 121 or 135 time, which is unfortunate because your time in Europe is certainly equivalent to 121 time but doesn't count as far as the regs are concerned. TSA flies a lot of oooooold ERJs, and you better jump on quick or you will miss the quick upgrade if you haven't already. Skywest has a 4 year upgrade and it is coming down. Skywest is also voting on a new pay package right now.
Good luck with whatever you choose, and feel free to ask more questions.
Last edited by zondaracer; 29th July 2015 at 04:55.