Wouldnt Europe be great?

[props and hopps]

Any old timers out there with experience in the conversion process(FAA to JAA)? Starting to feel this process out and looking for advice on ways to streamline as well pitfalls to avoid. Got a bunch of turboprop time as well as a couple hundred SIC on the B757.
Looking to maybe go to Germany (I speak decent German). Am I nuts for thinking that a 3000 + hour resume will get me a job over the locals given the protective disposition of the German govt? Any insight is much appreciated. Brutal honesty before I start spending money is much appreciated.
Also, is there anything preventing a person from flying in europe with an arrest on his record? (had a little underage drinking incident in college) Oops!:=

[galernikus]

I am pretty much in the same boat as you. I have already started my conversion process and I am scheduled to take the written exams in February. I recommend that you use the search function on this website because there is alot of good info on here and there is no need of typing it again. If you have any questions please feel free to PM me and I will be glad to help. Cheers!

[Denti]

Nothing to do with the government in germany in the first place. Companies do hire foreign pilots, in fact we have quite a few americans (and other nationalities) on our seniority list. However you do need the right to live in germany and have to be fluent in german with nearly all of the airlines here as all intra-company communication is made in german.

The job situation however is quite bad at the moment with nearly no hiring going on. Aerologic hires but would pay you around 45k (after typerating deduction) a year and they told applicants at a recent screening that they decided their cockpit language would be german (no other german airline has that as far as i'm aware) and they have around 4000 applications allready for around 100 open positions. Air Berlin is currently hiring too and with your experience you would get a guaranteed minimum per year of 53.7k plus benefits (LoL, pension scheme etc), however they too have thousands of applications (rumours in the company are around 5000 so far) for around 120 open positions. Both airlines only hire First Officers, time to left seat is pretty much undetermined.

Anyway, best of luck but the situation looks grim anywhere i guess.

[Trolle]

Conversion process is fairly straight forward, it just depends on where you decide to do it.

With your hours you might be able to bypass the required the ground school portion and do self-study for the exams. However, you should plan on having to sit the 14 written exams. I have airline time in the US and there are subtle differences between the two systems. However, be prepared for a theoretical heavy test.

Right to work in the EU is a must. No way around that. Similar if an EU citizen wished to work in the US.

And the job situation is bleak.

[redsnail]

If you have +3000 hours and 1500 hours or more in command (PIC) on aircraft 30,000 kg or more then you only need to do 2 exams.


However, it is only valid for G-reg aircraft (ie UK) if you want to fly a D-reg or any thing else, you'll need to do the 14 ATPL exams.

See LASORS Section G 1.5 Note 2.

Note 1 you should read. That will be applicable. :ok:


I did it from an Australian ATPL, it was worth it in the end...