UK ATPL or JAR ?
 

As my UK ATPL approaches it's 10th anniversary the CAA have sent me a renewal letter and a couple of forms. I have the choice of either renewing my UK licence or converting my national licence to a JAR licence.

My question is what benefits are there (if any) of JAR over my UK licence ?

I've been employed by a major UK operator for the last 8 years, and intend to remain there for a few years yet. Is a JAR licence of any use to me, or would it be more useful if I were to be looking elsewhere for employment ?

A couple of advantages of a JAR-FCL ATPL - NOT!!:

It's only valid for 5 years.
It doesn't include IMC Rating privileges, so if one day you leave the airlines, you'll need to start paying for IMC Ratings.

No-one in their right mind should consider converting to the JAR-FCL ATPL(A) if they already hold a UK ATPL(A)!

The only reason I'd opt for JAR over UK is if I suddenly landed a job at the other end of JAR-la-la land & my UK ATPL - or one of my other ICAO ATPLs - wasn't acceptable

Apparently the UK ATPL, upon reissue, is only valid for 5 years too. The IMC thing is a point though. I wonder if they'll let me keep my UK CPL and JAR ATPL? And my lifetime UK PPL too, come to think of it.
JAR really is a load of bollocks.

Is it possible to retain the national licence as well as be issued with the JAR equivalent? That would be handy.

Thank you for the interesting replies, it's something I'd not given any thought over the years since JAR came to be. No-one at work can think of a valid reason to go for JAR rather than renew UK ATPL so I'll let the company pay for that and revisit this subject in 5 years time :confused:

Scally :ok: