USA pilot wanting to move to AUS

[Viper5]

First time poster here so hopefully I did it in the right spot. I just graduated with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and I'm looking to move to Australia. I currently have my private pilots license with an instrument rating. I should be able to obtain a commercial rating within a months time.

I would like to know what the job market is like for pilots and how it would compare to a pilot here in America and have a few questions.

Will it be a problem getting credit for the flight hours/ratings that I've already achieved?

How many and what type of hours does a typical airline look for as a f/o?

What is the average starting pay for flight instructors and f/o?

How long does it typically take as a flight instructor until you can apply for a f/o position?

This is all I can think of at the moment. Any help in answering any combination of these questions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Boeingdream]

Hey mate

I am just a newbie so I cannot offer any advice in terms of career options as I am looking for work myself, however before other memebers can help you the big questions would be do you have the visas to work in Australia if not I would imagine with the economy the way it is the Aussie gov will not be giving the visas out lightly.


That is just a thought.

Goodluck with all.

[Viper5]

I thought the aussie market is strong right now. Why would they have problems giving out visas.

[WannaBeBiggles]

Viper, the aussie market WAS strong, it's settled down a lot recently.

Why don't you post your hours, ratings and experience, that way some of the guys and girls working in the airline can give you more accurate answers.

You will need to convert your licence to and australian one, check Civil Aviation Safety Authority (http://www.casa.gov.au) for more information.

[Viper5]

Some info about me:
I have 260 hours of single engine. 25 simulator.
Private Pilot
instrument rated
getting my commercial rating in about a month if not sooner
I'm 23 (24 in march)

[RENURPP]

I suspect a long hard road.

The Visa will be an issue. While the market was good there wassn't a shortage of low time pilots, there was a shortage of more experienced pilots.



Unfortunately most first job instructors appear to start off part time, not a good situation for the students or the instructors generally.
Hours and $$$ will be reasonably hard to come by.
To get an F/O job with an airline few thouisand hours and som emulti time "normally" and there is not much recuiting at present.

The Visa is the first step and that won't be much easier than me trying to get a greencard.

[TurboOtter]

Work in the US is far easier to gain,
Sure some to Australia, fly around in singles for 3 years or more, then live on a false promise that you might get to fly a twin.
After a couple of years of trying for a twin job you land one flying a busted arse chieftain across bass straight, why did you get that job? no one else wanted it, now you know why!
Then when you have you 500 multi and 2000 total, you try to get a gig on a metro only to be told your not experienced enough. try again later to be told you have to much single time.
So after another couple of years twin flying, (on 40K a year, while a school teacher gets over 65K) you finally break into Rex, to find out it's basically a GA company! but then things do move a little faster from that point,

Cross your fingers, you land a job with the big Q :) doing long haul as 2nd officer, only getting to fly the sim every 3 months to "stay current"

I think I'm going ot neck myself now, how depressing.

As I said the states has far better propects

[biggles7374]

Viper

I do not know your circumstances outside of flying but as a non Australian I can speak from experience that obtaining a visa to work in Australia IS DEFINATLEY GONNA BE YOUR BIGGEST OBSTACLE. Before you go and start spending money booking flights and converting licences do your homework on immigration status and the liklihood of you getting a visa with works rights.

I know guys who have come over here and spent heaps of money, got an Australian licence and then have had to go back to their own country because they cannot get a suitable visa.

Sorry I cannot be more positive but the immigration system in Australia is really strict. Good Luck with the Commercial!!

Biggles

[J D]

Hey Viper...

From another yank..it will be a long hard road. An easier way (but not by much) is to fall in love and marry a nice Aussie girl. I know of an AF pilot who did just that and he wont have is residency for several more years and getting his FAA certs transferred is a another story....lots of time and $$$, and he still cant get work..he is now commuting to a far away place for several weeks at a time.

(Mayfly...if you lurking please help me out with the facts)


I am married to a Kiwi and have gotten residency, but it was not easy, easier then Aus. converting my ATP with military time etc has been a bit trying as well.

I didn't intend to piss in your wheaties but you have an uphill battle ahead of you. If you succeed it will be well worth it.

Cheers,
JD

[scavalenger]

Just stay in the States and there are more opportunity out there than here in AU. You can count how many regional airlines are here in AU, I would say less than 10. And you need atleast 1500TT, 500 ME/PIC and ATPL. You probably need only 500-1000 TT to get a job as FO in USA and you probably might be flying CRJ. Probably regionals in the States are not doing well at the moment, in that case you can still built up your hours in may different ways after you get your CPL, perhaps become an instructor and atleast they pay better than regional airlines FOs. Alternately PART 135 operators are always hiring and believe me it's cheaper, easier and quickest ways to land yourself in the airliner than come to AU.

[ThreeGreen]

Viper

As an Australian living in the US, I agree that building a career in flying is easier in the US than back home. My question is why do you want to move to Australia?

[Viper5]

For one I'm sick of all the religious crap that controls this country. I probably won't be getting any social security when I retire (even though I'm having to pay for it). Plus aussie girls are hot (accent is good too) and not nearly as trashy. Thats just a few for starters.

[Kangaroo Court]

Not all the American girls are bad, at least not in a bad way. I'm an Aussie and married one. I've lived/flown in both countries and Australia is much harder for low timers.

This financial crisis will mean that part-time instructing and a second job will be necessary, at least for the first year or so.

[mattyj]

Whats wrong with trashy? :E:E

[fudwinkel]

There are many ways of getting residency in Oz, have a look around the Immigration web site and see if you have any qualifications in demand (MODL). Was pilot on there last year? You could become a student and then apply on graduation (Graduate skill - 485). Its not that hard to get in, its probably a bit easier and cheaper than getting a Greencard.

By all accounts pilot employment in Oz is not as easy to come by as it was last year. As was said above there are usually many more opportunities for starting out in the U.S than there are in Oz, last year may have been an exception to this. Recently you could go from 0 to right seat 121 in well under one year in the U.S. I am not sure that happens in Oz very often, Turbo Otters account is probably a common enough experience.

Converting certificates requires some effort, time and money but people do it every day and you will be given credit for a lot of it (CASA website).

Be assured that all the nonsense (political, religous and otherwise) that goes on in the U.S. gets picked up in Australia and they run with it so you wont find refuge here.

[Chilli78]

Use your engineering degree to immigrate - although things have slowed a bit - engineers (particularly young ones) rate very highly regarding the immigration points - there are only two or three schools in Aus that graduate aero engineers. Also aero pretty much qualifies you to work in other engineering roles( ie:mechanical).

Checkout where you stand at immi.gov.au

Immigrating to Aus is not hard - 150,000 plus people do it every year. The other factor in your favour is that achieving the required score in the english test (IELTS) will not be an issue - it is a show stopper for many Asians and Indians.

Get some more flight time in the USA - promise Aus Immi you will work as an engineer - once you get here you can do what you want - permanent residency is granted straight away.

People do this kind of thing all the time - immigrate in a skilled shortage area - accounting / surveying / metal trades - then try there hand at being a pilot , kung fu instructor , whatever they really wanted to do when they get here.

Pro-rata Australia has one of the highest immigration rates - making it one of easiest countries in the world to immigrate to. Particularly so for young english speaking engineers who have completed courses at regonised Universities.

If you get a year or two of work experience as an engineer in the US under belt - I would be very surprised if you didn't automatically qualify.

[ElPerro]

Being an Aero Eng. (as in saying you wish to work as one) gets you 60 points and is on the Skilled Migration List (i.e. We are short).

Being an Aircraft Pilot gets you 0 points and is not.

However you might find this difficult:

Recent work experience requirement

To meet the recent work experience requirement, you must demonstrate that you have been employed:

in an occupation listed on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL)
for at least 20 hours a week
in a paid position
for at least 12 of the 24 months immediately before lodging your visa application.

[MayFly135s]

Viper

Below you will find a thread about my experience from nearly 2 years ago as ex-USAF pilot that immigrated. While your plan is not impossible it is a long road, and I would imagine much harder as a low timer. Hopefully it gets you thinking about a few of the issues, and may generate some more specific questions. Good luck!

http://www.pprune.org/d-g-general-aviation-questions/296660-u-s-pilots-oz.html