Rusty 1983 and everyone else that is thinking of coming to the US as a European to get the flight training done.
If you have the slightest interest to ever fly in Europe or anywhere else besides the US, than there is only one way to get this done. Go to a school, that after a year you WILL have both EASA and FAA License/certificates! Anything else, you will regret down the road. You are not getting it any cheaper than doing both at once in the same school. Bite through it!
I started flying in 1980 in Europe and finally went to the US almost 20 years ago. Since I have been over here, I got calls from many European guys and they all asked what to do in reference to the path to success. I still maintain the same answer to this day. Get EASA and FAA at the same time!
Don't get fooled with job promises, every single student will get the same promise. And there are not that many jobs out there for every single one of them. Yes...I know...you will be better than the other guy, heard it all before
With the low oil price, very hard times are here to stay for a while. Talked to many experienced guys with either EASA-FAA-CAA or whatever license. The one license that will get you the most in the coming years, is an EASA ATP.
Once JAA got introduces I was lucky enough to get grandfathered in to a JAA VFR license. Just to maintain that thing is a flipping nightmare! I was thinking about adding an ATP to my EASA CPL and gladly declined after I was told what I had to do. What I am saying is, get everything you can at the beginning! Afterwards there will always be something in your way and the job that just got offered to you requires exactly what you just don't have. By the way, that never ends. After flying for 35 years holding several ATP's - CPL's RW and FW, there is always something else that employer wants that I don't have
Whatever you do, I wish you guys all the best and never give up, it is an uphill battle until you retire. But it will be worth it many times
Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs."
Farrah Gray