I dream of Europe.

[Massachello]

Hi everyone.

I'm currently working on my instructors certificates in the US. I'm a Permanent resident of the United States. I was born in Brazil and I currently hold citizenship in Brazil and Italy(EU).

I plan on building some flight time as an instructor here in the United States but I have always dreamed of being a pilot in Europe. I understand the JAA convert ion is painful and expensive, but lets say I am motivated enough to do it. How much flight time does one need to be competitive for a regional carrier?

Regards

[pablo2973]

Holding USA residency,brazilian and italian citizenship ,I dont know why on earth you want to fly in Europe :confused:, this is a very congested place for pilots ,badly paid and considered nowadays ,thats why we are forced to fly abroad ,where we can developed the career we love and earn more cash ,Brazil ( the 7th world economy since last week is one of the best places to fly in todays world ) lots of new aircraft orders for the next coming years in both turboprop and jets.
Just as a basic information UNLESS you have a Friend who can really HELP you in Europe they wont even look at your face with less than 500h on type , any type ,preferably A320 ,or heavy turboprop ATR or Dash. Good luck .

[Massachello]

Pablo thank you for the information. Brazil is my top option at the moment. The US is very volatile. Two months ago everyone was talking about a pilot shortage and now a lot of the regional airlines are on the brink of bankruptcy.

I guess I get caught up in the romance and beauty of Europe.

[Widewings]

To be honest I do not understand why you wanna go to Europe now. I am EU citizen, I have few hundreds hours on turboprop in business aviation as PIC, later on I was JFO with the UK airline with worldwide AOC, almost 1500 hrs total, more than 500 on B737 (classic and NG qualified), I was flying over the whole Europe, MNPS, SE Asia, China (metric).. AND I HAVE NO CHANCE TO FIND A JOB IN EUROPE, and apparently even not outside of Europe now. It´s desperate situation even for much more experienced guys in Europe..:ugh:

So my advice would be - give it a year of two and get your hours in Brasil or where you can. Later on, when you have enough experience, look around Europe, you will have more chances.

[Jerry Lee]

As an italian guy, I do suggest you to convert your FAA licences into brazilian licences and looking for job there.
I consider you lucky to have the brazilian citizenship, because as pilot it is gonna be one of the best places to fly in over the next years.

Anyway, you can convert your licences into JAA (or EASA) if you want, but stick at Brazil!

[truckflyer]

Agree with last post, I have 2 friends from Brazil that was living in the UK, they both went back to Brazil and converted their licences, and have good work now. Not with airlines, but Biz jet., and best part they did not pay for TR themselves. If you come to Europe, your only shot is Ryanair, and you have to have money for your TR.

[pablo]

The US is very volatile. Two months ago everyone was talking about a pilot shortage and now a lot of the regional airlines are on the brink of bankruptcy.

Do you think European carriers are in a good financial position? And do you guess where they cut back to become more competitive?
I don't mean to be bitter, but Europe is not that stable as you may think.

I only know about basic/GA job market in the US, but my impression is that it's far better than in Europe. For some people GA/instructing isn't very attractive, but at least you have a way to earn a living while filling up the logbook. Here in Europe GA is small and shrinking and most airlines ask for 30-40k € for the type rating, and salaries are not that good.

The aviation industry in the USA is huge, so there's more movement in terms of pilot jobs than in Europe, I think. I would give an arm to go back to the USA.

About Brazil I don't really have a clue.

[Jerry Lee]

At the moment Europe is not stable at all. Well, we have Germany which is the "leader" for the moment but I don't know for how long it will still last.

[pablo]

I'm not very aware of the economic news but even with the new government Spain is still in a downturn.

I find it strange that someone living in the USA may want to come and live in Europe because the USA is not "stable" in terms of economy/employment. The grass is always greener...

[Massachello]

I want to thank everyone for the responses. It's looking like Brazil is the top choice, but first I need to build more flight time as an instructor here.
If things improve in Europe down the road, I will look at it again.

[Journey Man]

Depending on where you want to convert your licence(I.e. which State), check with the local authority. For the UK, LASORS should have the full details of the hoops you need to jump through.

It is a lot easier to convert an ATPL than it is to convert a CPL ME/IR, if memory serves me correctly. With that in mind I would echo the advice here and seek work on your current licence then look to come back to Europe later with an ATPL. The first step is the hardest so you may kill two birds with one stone and instruct, or fly bank cheques / organs.

Finally, do you speak Spanish? With Italian and Portuguese, I'm guessing you would have a reasonable fluency in Spanish, or be able to become fluent in a month or two of study. Why not try LAN Chile?

Good luck! Let us know how you get on. These forums need to hear success stories as well as the doom and gloom!