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British Pilot working for US airlines

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British Pilot working for US airlines

Old 29th Apr 2016, 12:50
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Yes, AA has 16,000 applications. Delta has well over 10,000 applications. Same with United, but it's the same 16,000 applying to all three companies.

Yes, the majority of AA hires are through the flows. Most off the street hired at AA are military with a splattering of civilian pilots.

All of the AA furloughed pilots have until May 6th to return. I personally know two pilots on furlough who will not accept the recall. The closer we get to May 6th, the less likely the furloughs will come back as they have found other work or their life situation has changed.
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Old 1st May 2016, 23:51
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Hey hi zondaracer, you're awesome.
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Old 2nd May 2016, 02:12
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SextanteUK,

Yeah especially because I chose an awesome birthday cake for you.
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Old 4th May 2016, 02:15
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Originally Posted by bafanguy
Reverserbucket,

I suppose it's hard to know how many foreign nationals would qualify under the "married to" or dual citizenship banner to grease the skids into the US regionals. But I suspect those who do just take matters into their hands individually. You'd expect some enterprising FTO to put together a program for them (those with existing non-FAA tickets).

I keep hearing that many regionals are struggling to fill seats but it's mostly anecdotal from here in the Peanut Gallery except for the one where I have a little bit of inside perspective…and it's not the best of the lot (nor the worst). It's puzzling that these airlines would sit there and let things go to pot without exhausting every potential source. Have they ?

There are frequently ways around the ham fisted interference of the kakistocracy.

Maybe it's just not all THAT dire ?

And then, there's that Aussie thing…untapped resource ? Maybe someone should've told Republic. :-))
You're on to something.


First, the major carriers, and many of the smaller large-jet carriers have zero problem filling their seats. People are clamoring to work for them.


If the regionals tried to "press-to-test" on something similar to an H1B visa program, their case would be completely deflated, because, clearly, there are plenty of pilots, and the qualifications to fly at both, majors and regionals are, technically, the same.


Having plenty of potential qualified applicants, but using the argument "well, yea, but we don't want to pay them enough to come work for us" doesn't really work out all that well in this situation.


Very hard to make the case that what's good for the goose isn't good for the gander in this particular set of circumstances.


The long and the short of it, if you want to fly for a US major, you need a lot of time (>5,000 TT) or slightly less time and be ex-military (>2,000TT). It doesn't have to be air carrier time, but at least some should be, and some of that should be turbine PIC. You should have a 4-year (or equivalent degree), and at least show some advancement to a "leadership" position (instructor pilot, checkairman, stand/eval pilot (for mil guys), assistant chief pilot, or even union rep). Have a life outside of work.


If you can check at least some of those boxes (oh, and have a legal right to work in the US), then you stand a reasonable chance at getting looked at without working for the associated regional airline. Super deluxe that one might have 1500 hours in 737s, but if you have 1800 hours total time, that's not going to cut it in the US due to radically different hiring philosophy. Golly, it's neat that someone might have flown a A320, but any US major can train anyone who meets their qualification to fly it, and that person has the same training footprint as someone with previous Airbus time.


One can fuss and fume, but its not going to change any time in the foreseeable future.


Nu
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Old 4th May 2016, 08:15
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Nu,

"One can fuss and fume, but its not going to change any time in the foreseeable future."

Agree. I'm just a little surprised some regional, in particular, hasn't made more of an overt, serious effort to get access to expats...if it's all as dire as alleged. Perhaps it isn't ?
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Old 4th May 2016, 12:49
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Two regionals have tried to get expats and both were unsuccessful. The pool of applicants has not dried up yet. All this talk about the pilot shortage is bringing lots of pilots out of the woodwork. I know several guys who gave up on flying as a career, and they decided to get current and apply to the airlines. I know lots of young guys in the training pipeline who are getting their training done in 6-12 months and getting their first flying jobs. They anticipate getting their 1500 and going to a regional within two years of finishing their ratings. The well is not quite dry.
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Old 4th May 2016, 19:47
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Originally Posted by NuGuy
The long and the short of it, if you want to fly for a US major, you need a lot of time (>5,000 TT) or slightly less time and be ex-military (>2,000TT). It doesn't have to be air carrier time, but at least some should be, and some of that should be turbine PIC. You should have a 4-year (or equivalent degree), and at least show some advancement to a "leadership" position (instructor pilot, checkairman, stand/eval pilot (for mil guys), assistant chief pilot, or even union rep). Have a life outside of work.

If you can check at least some of those boxes (oh, and have a legal right to work in the US), then you stand a reasonable chance at getting looked at without working for the associated regional airline. Super deluxe that one might have 1500 hours in 737s, but if you have 1800 hours total time, that's not going to cut it in the US due to radically different hiring philosophy. Golly, it's neat that someone might have flown a A320, but any US major can train anyone who meets their qualification to fly it, and that person has the same training footprint as someone with previous Airbus time
Thank-you for all of your replies. Zondaracer, your answers have been particularly helpful and informative. The above quote from NuGuy seems like an appropriate summary to my initial question.

It does sound like there is definitely some serious movement in the industry at the moment and how that will affect the job market in the next 5 - 10 years is anyones guess. But I get the impression it generally positive for the foreseeable future?

All your answers have definitely given me food for though about my career path. Obviously everything could change once I've qualified. I might discover a love for bush flying in Peru and never look at an airline job again. However, I feel having a certain sense of direction and end goal is useful and knowing the different steps to get there will help to plan my future and make decisions.
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Old 4th May 2016, 20:54
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" Two regionals have tried to get expats and both were unsuccessful. "

Z,

I'm familiar with Republic's admitted, and failed, attempt to get some Brazilians to fly for them (think I posted that somewhere on here).

Who was the other regional that made an overt, targeted attempt at expats ? I mentioned one company to you in a PM but that's just sorta/kinda scuttlebutt and may not qualify as a formal, dedicated try to solicit expats.

I agree that there's no actual "shortage" of pilots here...just not enough in some spots...under some circumstances...at some times. Just plug the holes with expats. :-)))
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Old 5th May 2016, 05:10
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Originally Posted by bafanguy
Nu,

"One can fuss and fume, but its not going to change any time in the foreseeable future."

Agree. I'm just a little surprised some regional, in particular, hasn't made more of an overt, serious effort to get access to expats...if it's all as dire as alleged. Perhaps it isn't ?
It isn't. There are tons of pilots...some doing Part 135 charter, some doing corporate work, some are ex-pats looking to return home. But a lot of these guys aren't going to do it for $35k a year, or even $45k/yr.


The regional business has been living off the coat-tails of the major airlines for decades, dependent on their pay/benefits/quality of life to draw people into the pipeline. Even during times of massive turnover (late 80s, late 90s), their minimums were always at or near ATP minimums. The 1,500 hour rule would have been, for the vast majority of history, completely redundant, since the regionals themselves had minimums at or above 1,500 hours anyway.


But when did the pipeline supposedly collapse? During times of massive turnover? No, it didn't...the drop in minimums happened in 2005-07, when the industry was mostly stagnant, and turnover was at a low ebb.


But what did happen in right before that (2004) was the massive retrenchment of pay, benefits and QoL at the major airlines. Once people saw that the pot of gold had turned to the pot of lead, they saw that there were vastly better opportunities to pursue that didn't' involve $100k of debt and a very restrictive lifestyle.


You might disagree with some of the things that ALPA says or does, but in this they're right on the mark. It's not a pilot shortage, but a pay shortage, at all levels of the industry.


The pre-2004 pay/benefits package of the majors included, roughly, 50% more pay, paid health care, and fully funded defined benefit retirement plans (that required no contribution). Work rules were excellent and advancement was predictable, if a bit uneven at times. Some might call that the halcyon days, or even unsustainable, but I would say that was the package that was required to put butts in the seats...throughout the entire industry, not just at the majors.


If the long term compensation of the industry isn't sufficient, then people are just going to do something else. It shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone.


Nu
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Old 8th May 2016, 12:19
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Originally Posted by am111
Hi All,

................

I'm a British citizen married to an American, ...........

Many airlines require US Citizenship. The above will lead to a Green Card, assuming you have applied. Then need 3 years married and 18 months physically in the US as Green Card holder before you can apply for Citizenship - application processing can take up to one year.
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Old 8th May 2016, 13:00
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Which airlines require citizenship?
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Old 8th May 2016, 17:28
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Originally Posted by Warmair
Many airlines require US Citizenship. The above will lead to a Green Card, assuming you have applied. Then need 3 years married and 18 months physically in the US as Green Card holder before you can apply for Citizenship - application processing can take up to one year.
I have looked at job sites already to see if there was any such requirement and all the ones I came across just specified the right to live and work in the US which I will have as a spouse and maybe also a US driving licence which seems bizarre to me but would be straight forward to get.
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Old 8th May 2016, 22:33
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Most airlines that I know of only require the right to live and work.
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Old 6th Jun 2016, 15:25
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Every U.S. airline I have worked for only required the right to live and work in the U.S. When I was at VX we had several Canadian, UK and Irish nationals work for us.

As for your university degree from the UK, it should most definitely be respected and honoured in the States. Everyone knows the UK (as well as most of Europe, Canada and Australia) has top notch universities.
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Old 6th Jun 2016, 15:30
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Double Post
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