As far as UAL is concerned, we do 99% of our training at the main training center in DEN and for the last, god knows how long, it’s been undergoing a complete refurbishment. It’s been a bomb site for at least the last 2 years and is only now, starting to look like it should. Together with the 747 retirements and training of those crews, there’s been a huge bottleneck in the training pipeline. Also, we’ve streamlined the scheduling of flights and departure/arrival banks at the hubs, which has meant the aircraft are flying more, with less overall new pilots needed.

UAL may see DAL hiring numbers but from the numbers I’ve seen, I doubt it. This all means sh1t if the trade war goes nuclear. A large proportion of our intl. operation is to mainland China and if that went bye bye, I’m pretty sure I’d be out on the street and I’ve been here 3 years.

Oh...and if age 67 passes, it’ll be a disaster to a lot of careers.

Had an inspector in the jump the other day. He seems pretty keen on 2020 as some kind of implementation or rule change date for age 67. Seems a bit soon. The way everyone is freaking about retirements and the pool drying up makes me nervous though.

People are still being granted the E3 and the E3R (renewal) visas without needing a university degree nor 12 years of industry experience. One mate just arrived a few weeks ago, and another is on their way here.

yah it sounds like pot luck on the consulate interviewer on how strict they are.

whatever you do, do NOT misrepresent anything to the consulate trying to get yourself over the line as you may end up with an entry ban to the US.

Yes, it does take close to 10 days to get the actual Social “card” posted out to you.. HOWEVER it is considerably faster (I was told overnight and mine was ready in 3 days which was the earliest I could check): if you revisit the SS admin office a second time again after your initial application they can then release your actual SS number to you.

To start work the airline just needs the SS number, not a copy of the card so this can speed things up quite a bit.

Cheers Ralphi

Fly AMERICA - Goat stew to gumbo

So, like dozens of my countrypeople pilots I am an Aussie pilot having heard and responded to the call coming from across the Pacific “please come fly for us, we will provide you with a ATP and type rating” ok sounds good. Some opportunities go further “hey you know what we will provide you with flights to and from the USA and a healthy signing bonus to boot” ok sounds even better.

So having always enjoyed traveling and with a like minded partner I signed on the dotted line and voila am now sitting enjoying some local goat stew from Curacao, to be shortly followed by Gumbo as I head to New Orleans tomorrow on non revenue flights business class. My circumstance has allowed three distinct “holidays”between the training slots due to the backlog in training with my particular airline, each of these whilst being paid and being able to fly to 2/3 of the world for mere pennies.

The USA is a monster, a giant economy of which the airlinel sector is a integral cog. Coming out of the little Aussie market I was blown away with just how many career opportunities are available as long as you met the criteria of 1500 hours, requisite industry experience and formal training in aviation. A lot of my peers actually can’t believe that they have just been offered a job to fly a regional jet when they get the first offer and I have seen them jump at that. My advice would be to remember that the scare commodity now is actually the PILOT = you, so the first offer may not be best fit, take your time to decide what you really want in terms or things like start date, etc. I have had no problem in employers accommodating my requests.

Personally I took the second offer as this allowed the best fit for me. Having two consecutive summers, instead of consecutive winters was an easier transition. Having better travel benefits to relocate myself and family and having more certainty as to which city I would be based in were all part of my decision. As I have already said the US market is big enough to allow you the luxury of this type of choice.

So ATP and type rating in hand I reflect on the journey last few months. The US certainly presents friendly skies to the Aussie with a professional attitude. I found the breaks in my training allowed my to be best prepared in the indoc, systems, other ground school and simulator phases of training and thereby reduced the stress factors associated with the steep learning curve of the first jet. My peers, Captains I was paired in training, instructors and guys and gals I met whilst jump-seating to date have been “true gentlemen and women of the skies”.

The move to a new country is a giant step in life, but it is one through which we can really develop our boundaries and I would completely recommend it after you perform some in depth homework on your new employer. I personally know many pilots at both the number 1 employer of Oz pilots and the second and third place getters in terms of numbers flying there.

The match you make will really be a big part of your experience, is it union or non union, base certainty, time on reserve, benefits like travel and when these are available, time to upgrade, how they treat their staff, etc, etc and etc. the general feedback I have from the primary choices made by Aussies is good to great, but there are some less attractive options if you don’t do the homework. The resources on the web are immense and fully allow you to get this knowledge with little effort. As already pointed out above a few hours on US specific forums like airlinepilotforums will pay big dividends in making the right decision.

I personally have no regrets whatsoever and have only very minor gripes with my choice, these are far outweighed by the quality of training, immediate benefits and team I now work within.

My info gathering was very much assisted by this forum and stars like Havick, bafanguy et al and I thank you for helping get started on the journey. Safe Landings I want to commend you on your attitude, which in my view is the single most import aspect to getting through training.

I will post an update down the road with some more hours under the belt on the actual jet, feel free to pm me if you have queries on my journey.

Re the SSN release, I had to do it in a very particular way - they definetly won’t release it by phone and they won’t print it for you on the second visit, however the agent I had agreed to read it off the screen for me to write down as when generated it becomes “my information”. Agree it will come down to each agent and an big element of luck..

Cheers from Ewemerica, Ralphi

A fantastic no bullsh@t post.

I take my hat of to you a who have given it a crack. What a great experience. As has been mentioned many times it’s all about personal choice.

I think I’ve said it before, go the USA route, get a command with a few thousand hours and the world opens as an expat pilot. The way things are going, hit China for 3/5 years (certainly not for everyone), invest well and retire.

Livin the dream. Well done guys.

I am still tossing up wether or not to hit Stateside!

just to compare apples with apples then, what does a REX and QLINK skipper earn? How long does it take to uograde frin first joining an Aussie regional?

sour grapes?

Maybe. There’s so much incorrect information in his post, that it’s actually a disservice to people weighing their options. Which is a shame after people (including yourself) have spent the time to be informative.

I think everything Seagull201 knows about flying in the U.S. comes from the internet. Not by actually doing it, or knowing (in person, not the internet) someone who has done it.

Edited to add - if the PJN pay scale for Rex is even close to accurate; a new Captain on 2nd year pay at Skywest would make about 8% more than a top of pay scale Rex Captain. The Skywest Captain would pay substantially less tax.

ummmm okkkay.

i earned 85k year one as a regional FO by hustling g and picking up as much OT as possible as well as bidding schedule conflicts and trading into sequences with check airman that I got displaced off but pay protected for.

I upgraded at 15 months with the company (flew 1000 hours in 12 months after getting checked to line).

Took a few months to get through CA training due to backlogs and a new LOA requiring 50 hours IOE before being released to the line in the left seat. So I’ll be on the line as a CA all said at roughly 20 months ish with the company.

I am recieving CA pay rates from when I was awarded the upgrade 2 months or so prior to going to upgrade training.

year two for me as a mixture of FO and CA rates will be approx 100k +

3rd year CA will be in the 110-120k ish range. Perhaps 130-135 if I do the check airman thing immediately at 6 months after upgrade.

check airman are making about 150k +

If all you are doing is gleaning your information from the APC forum then you really have no idea how the system works over here and how we credit hours for pay under the various contracts. only the dumb pilot make minimum guarantee.

And for info any of the Aussies on that joined Piedmont on an E3 will flow to mainline AA when their number comes up in 3-4 years from now. There’s nothing in their contract preventing them from flowing and mainline has concurred, the unions also support it. So good luck for those guys that took the punt. Also a good point to note is any Aussie joining Piedmont now still can flow to mainline AA as the contracts have not changed, except that the time to flown is getting exponentially worse as the queue is getting longer there.

as for me, I’m with Envoy NE USA based (albeit on a green card) and have about no more than 3 years left from now before I flow to mainline AA unless something better comes along in the meantime.

All this with the cost of living being wayyy cheaper over here. Short of trying to live in downtown new
york or SFO, your many goes a lot further than in Aus.

so you really have no grasp on the reality over here except for some back of the napkin calculations.

Havick - Thank you.

Professional Amateur - Ignore that jiberish.

Several of us in the US that left Aussie ‘majors’ to fly here. Less complicated system (more user friendly), more buying power on average and from all reports greater soft pay (work rules). Seniority for bidding and the ability to pick up/drop trips and change your schedule are also strong pluses. Don’t even get me started on the differences between management culture of Flight Data Monitoring vs FOQA; most Aussie skippers were terrified of it, here it’s a non issue and practically really changes the enjoyment factor of the job when you’re free to click everything off and hand fly.

Can anyone accurately answer what a QLINK, Cobham and Rex FO and CA make on average?

additionally, how long from joining to upgraded to CA, and how likely is it to get a check airman position after upgrading and what’s the timeframe and pay increase associated with that?

There’s quite a few Aussies here bashing going to the US, but none have opened up about what Aussies are earning doing the same job. I’ve asked a few times but everyone has avoided answering the question.

There is a thread on here on Aussie wages.

Also - https://www.fwc.gov.au/search/docume...relevance+DESC

So what are regional CA’s in Australia earning on average then? The EBA is one thing, what guys are earning is another.

Plenty of guys renewing their E3s at the moment without a degree.

As someone who has lived in both the US and OZ, working for what some might term “top of the list” airlines, I’d just like to add the following.....

Firstly, regardless of what some online calculator tells you, the taxes are less in the US and almost everything you need or have to spend your salary on, each month, costs less than it would in Australia. Do not make the mistake of comparing AU$ to US$. It’s only a small part of the equation.

Secondly, do not underestimate the collective resistance to anyone other than a US citizen or Green Card holder, ever being employed by a legacy airline. My personal feeling is that it might happen if hell freezes over first. In other words..never.

They get paid according to the EBA, so what guys are earning and their EBA should be the same thing no? A Cobham Regional (146) Capt might get around 180k on an outdated EBA with a couple of years back pay owing when the latest gets approved. Very little overtime or allowances there, generally flying around 50 hours / month.