Brit pilots working in the USA
 

I’m hearing from a number of different sources that more and more experienced British Captains are now working for US airlines.

Apparently, the US Citizen and Immigration Service have now included pilots on the list of those professions that qualify for ‘Employment Visas’ and are fast tracking applications.

Does anyone know the name of any of the agencies involved in recruiting UK pilots?

You are misinformed. You might have been hearing about the National interest waiver for the EB2.

Not disputing what you say but:

Do your sources have any documentation to support this ? They are certainly in the RHS if they're here in a Part 121 operation.

And do your sources have documented explanations for how these folks got the legal ability to live/work in the US ? Green Card lottery ? Married into a Green Card ? Documented National interest waiver for the EB2 ?

They'd be welcome but it'd be informative to see for sure how they got here. Inquiring minds want to know.

Do you mean USCIS? If so:

Every airline in the US is seniority based. If you get hired you start at the bottom of the list regardless of your experience.

Unless you know something I don't, the only visum for foreign pilot's is for OZ E3. I have not seen a single pilot giving proof of getting a EB2 NIW.

proof....

All the other Brit pilots I know and I are here with green cards, or have since become citizens. I know of nobody on a special visa.

If there was a way to get sponsored by a US airline, believe me Pprune would be the first to know about it, and there's nothing...

I flew to Denver last year with United and the cabin crew were all Brits and London based. I think the flight deck crew were brits too.

dixi,

Didn't know about the United London F/A base. The pilots could very well have been Brits but I find no mention of a London pilot base:

Domicile & Relocation

Upon completion of training, graduates are assigned to one of the United domiciles - Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Honolulu, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, Washington DC, Frankfurt, Guam, Hong Kong, London, and Narita.


https://www.avjobs.com/careers-direc...quirements.asp

rudestuff,

You got that right !! :)

Possible. But none of them got a green card based on being brits and working in aviation.

Lots of Brits in the US, likely some would bid for UK trips. UAL had 727 pilots based in London decades ago, and has had FA based there too. But I have not seen a single European get preferential treatment from US immigration based on aviation as occupation. I would know, came here myself the old fashioned way (lottery for a few years, followed by marriage).

The United London cabin crew base has its long history in the equivalent Pan Am base, taken over by United in 1991. I don't know if any onetime Pan Am staff remain there. They only fly London transatlantic flights and not domestic US ones.

Has everyone taken the ATP exams?

There is only one ATP exam.

Erm, okay. I suppose that's why it only took me an hour to complete it. Mid - late eighties. The allowed time was 6 hours.

I did spend 30 minuets writing a note explaining why the only question I later realised I must have got wrong, did not have a correct answer. According to a Braniff '72 instructor I overheard, "That's why nobody ever gets 100% on the ATP . . ." I've always wondered if that's what he meant. I wish I'd pushed into the conversation.

Did you switch licenses from CAA to FAA? If so what was the process of that and the job hunt like for you?

Why do you think your 777 experience would work against you? You’ll be hired and trained on whatever fleet your seniority can hold. That’ll usually be a narrowbody. When you’re senior enough to hold a widebody, you can bid any one. Your previous experience will neither hurt nor help you once you’ve passed the interview.

Lady S,

If hired at any union-represented US carrier, you will join at the bottom of the list...period. Your previous experience will have gotten you interviewed and offered a job. From that point, you'd be a new hire and go to whatever base and/or airplane your seniority (or relative lack thereof) will get you through the bid process.

One's relative seniority within a new hire class is established by age in some places and the last four numbers of your Social Security number in others depending on the airline.

If the airline continues hiring, more new hire classes will get added below you.

That's how it works here. Good luck in your choice.

Lady S,

It's all about options. If you have the ability to work in the US, joining a legacy carrier...a lifetime position...is just an option.

Things here are done differently compared to EU. Not better or worse...just different. And apparently, it doesn't suit everyone. But that's okay.

Anecdotally, UAL new hires are getting B737 captain slots while in new hire training (sort of the same at Delta but not so drastic). This is unheard of. But it's because those pilots senior to them just don't want the position...for a variety of reasons. So to play out possibilities, as soon as those pilots senior to these new hire captains decide they now want those captain spots, the new hires will get pushed down perhaps into the RHS on some airplane on subsequent bid cycles.

Seniority is sacrosanct here.

Best of luck with your choices. Let us know what you decide.

You may not want to be on the 777. Your relative seniority on the 777 will be a lot worse than on a narrowbody (or 757/767 in the case of United).

What that means is better schedule control, AND quite likely more money than someone with similar seniority on a 777, if desired.

The work rules you’ll find at US carriers will enable you to exercise far more control over your income than you’re accustomed to. So you don’t have to be on a 777 to earn what a 777 pilot makes.

As a fellow EUr but now USr, I vastly prefer the american way. Yes, I will probably mean I will have to start at the bottom if I decide to switch companies (and after 10+ years I might). It does also mean that when I wil not have people come over above me and hurt my progress, This makes sure people are invested in making their own company better as opposed to trying to catch the bird in the air somewhere else. And the current T&C difference between the USA and the EEUU makes me believe the US is doing this one thing right. Unbelievable that the unions are stronger here than there......

Well all I know is that I have made it clear to who works this, that in my next life I wish to be " Born in the USA",, work for someone like AIRCAL, be Based in LAX, live in Laurel Canyon, marry Britney Spears or some other Valley Girl and play drums, in my spare time for a Jazz trio at the Baked Potatoe in the Valley. After four previous lives, I have it on high authority that all requests will be granted.

Britney is a bit crazy these days. Try another.

Sigh all you want … I was a Brit, started at the bottom 37 years later was at the top 700 out of 16,000 take your choice.

You may find this thread a good place to start. Lots of information on this website about pay and work rules. The pay tables tend to be out of date though, so check within the specific company forums for the current information.

https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/m...-vs-major.html

I think we scared away Lady S. But it sounds like she's probably legacy bait if she wanted to take a run at it.

You're kidding,right?

I think she's misunderstood post #17. "What your seniority will allow" (which is fook-all if you're at the bottom) could be interpreted as you can bring some seniority with you. You can't.

Be careful what you wish for. California Valley Girls make look nice, but have you ever listened to them talk? Like totally, you know? Can you imagine living with that for the rest of your life?

https://www.avjobs.com/careers-direc...quirements.asp

That information concerning United FA bases is well out of date and is misleading. The only foreign base is LHR; the rest closed during COVID, any FA who did not have US work rights lost their jobs. United has not hired direct hires into LHR since 1997. There are over 800 transfer requests in for US based FA’s to move to LHR and as someone has already written, everything at United is seniority based, whether pilot, FA or mechanic etc. GUA is a US base.

As far as pilots go, UA is still hiring ferociously. They are on track for hiring 2000 pilots this year alone. There are 17000+ pilots on the property now, with a rumored target of 28000. They may pull back to 1600 if MAX deliveries continue to tank. Green cards or citizenship required.

Southwest just stopped pilot intakes. For now.

Yes, hiring has slowed down a bit but far from stopped.

I suspect Lady S would get a good reception from any US career-destination carrier to which she applied. She just needs to let us plan her career for her. ;)

I'm still curious about the requirement, or not, for the Brits to take the ATP exam.

Well, yes they have to take the FAA ATP-CTP course and written exam. How would they be exempted ?

thats seriously what you worried about?? The CTP course is painful with some retiree showing you a pic of a CB and how a Jet engine works.. followed by one singular test that can be done with a weeks worth of study as opposed to the load of BS we need to do in EASA(or CAA now for that matter).

Also dont forget a workpermit is only that.. you can work for one company and thats it.. try to swap companies and its game over.. or the company goes bankrupt..
. Its not a green card freeforall ffs..

Yes, the ATP-CTP course is an expensive, annoying slap in the face to many people. It's the Imperial Federal Kakistocracy at work. Not much can be done about that.

As Alfred E Newman said, 'What, me worry?' Just curious. My taking of the ATP was for a specific job in Europe on an N registered 727. They wintered in the Caribbean. Sounded nice.

I'd got plenty of hours under the proverbial belt and had a social security number, just because you could in those days. I took the study for the exam seriously, marooning myself out at SIL's place at Canyon Lake. TX. It was so cold, the waterbed started to get stiff. I studied in an anorak and woolly hat. Ten days of slog.

I walked into an office of Flight Crew Testing Inc., at San Antonio. Randy greeted me from under his ten gallon hat. I knew he was randy cos it was cast in his buckle. His cowboy boots were crossed on his desk. Yes, his feet were in them. "You've got six hours.".

After an hour I didn't know what to do. I spent half and hour going over some questions and writing to Oklahoma about one of their performance questions. I 'proved' that all four answers were wrong. I still didn't know what Randy looked like as he'd never looked up from his book. Probably something like, 'How we Won the West'

I'd done the thing in the Fed's office with my UK licence and logbooks. The flying was straightforward except for the fact I had great difficulty with the RT. I prided myself that my UK RT was very precise and BBCish. Now I was in a land that I knew well, I could even speak TEX-MEX, but the machine gun rattle of ATC tested my processing and patience. It was as though they were all vying for "Coolest RT ramble of the year."

One thing 'Dutch', a hard bitten old skipper, asked me was 'Going towards a beacon, how soon before arrival should your speed be stable?' I answered with great confidence. "Three minutes." He kind of just looked at me in a 'I wonder if he's right, and I've been wrong all these years.' kind of way. Come to think of it, I still don't know the answer.

Oh, by the way, I was driven into San Antonio from the lake by a retired British Airways 1011 captain who'd settled there with his American wife. Dickie Davis??? not sure.

Her profile says she lives in South Kensington - I'm guessing she has a somewhat sheltered life......

rivets,

Things here have changed a bit since you got your FAA ticket. ;)

........and we'll support the Donald!

Not sure what that means. The current FAA ATPL licensing criteria became effective in 2013, IIRC.

I looked at this but find no way in .
I had an FAA cpl that I got after my uk licence but regardless of some familiarity , all I got contacted by were snake oil salesmen offering to get my FAA ATP for $12000 or so ..

no mention of who would employ me or on what ? I’m guessing if it’s even possible it’d be right hand seat 737 or maybe LHS regional ?