pa44hk,

Good questions. I can only guess but can't see any reason why an E3er wouldn't get the same financial deal and upgrade situation as everyone else. The question I have is how the E3 person would be handled by those regionals with a flow-up to mainline if/when he got that far. Having a green card answers that question.

The E3 is renewable, right ?

[Too early to factor in the latest "proposed" legislation re immigration...it's a looooong way from being the Law of the Land]

E3's can renew their visa every two years.

E3's uograde just like anyone else.

E3's get the signing bonus like everyone else.

E3's probably won't be able to flow to mainline, will that change, who knows but most likely not.

E3's going to regionals in the USA will simply be using them as s stepping stone for quick jet and jet pic hours that would have taken 5 times as long to get the same experience in Australia if at all.

Reincarnation of Midwest Express with CRJs ? Not much detail given:


Midwest Express

I suppose some headhunting would result from such a rebirth.

Here's a bit of history. Rebirth seems like a real long shot...gutsy move... but I wish them well:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/money/...nes/552399001/

I'm approaching ATP minimums and would like to apply as an Australian under an E3 visa for a regional.

My emailing efforts have confirmed that most of the regionals will sponsor an E3, except for Envoy who said that they are not, which sucks because they seem pretty good.

Considering I can pretty much go anywhere, and don't have ties to any particular area, what would be a recommended base and a recommended regional?

I am looking most heavily at Piedmont and Air Wisconsin, but truthfully do not have much of an idea.

Another question, if I was to submit an application slightly below the minimums, would it still be considered? I will need to buy myself maybe 5 - 8 hours of twin time just to tick that box, but ideally would have liked to have passed an interview and gotten a class date, visa, license verification and everything else first.

Some say the 25 twin hours is enough, because I can make up the rest in a simulator, but I didn't expect an endorsement to last an extra 25 hours to meet that requirement.

Any advice is super appreciated :)

umop apisdn,


Commutair says you can apply up to 6 months before meeting min quals. I don't know how they compare to the rest of the bunch. Since they're all relatively close in quality, maybe the one offering less expensive places to live ? The big cities in the NE USA will be more expensive.

But you're so close to mins anyway maybe it doesn't matter. Just apply to all of 'em and update regularly ?

Pilots | CommutAir

umop apisdn,

Just for general information purposes, when you say "sponsor" do you mean accept an E3 visa holder as an applicant...or give administrative help to an applicant in securing an E3 visa ? There's a pretty big difference.

If they're willing to accept an E3 applicant, the employer has to give administrative assistance, in that they need to complete the Labor Condition Application.

Interesting article with quite a bit about Mesa. I didn't know what is said here about Mesa's overseas recruiting efforts. The Aussie connection is known but didn't know about South America and the Middle East:

"Where U.S.-trained pilots with 350 flying hours’ experience flock from the U.S. to find employment as first officers with the airlines of other countries that require only limited flying experience, Mesa has established pilot-recruiting offices in other countries. The offices recruit first officers from South America and Australia whose citizens can fulfill official requirements for U.S. working visas relatively easily—and the Middle East, where pilots may qualify for refugee status in the U.S. Recently Mesa has had success in recruiting pilots from all three areas, and pilots from other countries now represent a double-digit percentage of its total pilot complement."

U.S. Regionals Intensify Efforts To Combat Pilot Supply Dilemma | Air Transport News: Aviation International News

Also are "...U.S.-trained pilots with 350 flying hours’ experience flock[ing] from the U.S. to find employment as first officers with the airlines of other countries..." ?

If they are what countries are taking them ? If he's talking about foreign nationals who train in the US then return to their home country, his point is not germane.

Hello,

A bit off topic but why is it that I'm seeing pilots with 1,500 hours of multi-engine turbo-prop time applying to the regionals? knowing that most of the majors have 1,500 multi turbo-prop time as a minimum requirement!

Hagop

Majors are hiring people with 5-6 thousand hours or more total time and a good chunk of turbine PIC time.
If the majors were scooping people up with 1,500 hours of turbine time, don't you think we'd all be at the majors?

There is a gap between "minimum" and "competitive." Most of the guys getting hired with 1500 hours of turboprop time at the majors are military pilots, because they get a conversion factor for their hours and their experience is highly valued. A civilian off the street hire starts to get competitive around the 4000 hour total time mark (guys are getting hired with less, but also with lots more).

To add just a little bit to what Zonda and still single said, not only does it take very high quals to get hired at the legacy level here (pax or freight), there are untold numbers of people with 5,000+ hours, turbine PIC, college degree, clean record, several type ratings, Part 121 experience, training/check airman experience...every square filled...and they can't even get an interview !!

Can't get hired until you get an interview...and then the interview success rate comes into play varying between 25-70% from the few carriers when there's data available. Airlines can afford to be fussy (not that their version of "fussy" always makes sense...it quickly gets pretty subjective).

People just don't understand how flush we are with pilots here.

It seems things are a bit different in the states. In the Middle East/Europe 2,000 hours in a turbine aircraft above 20 tons will ensure a safe passage towards the majors. Even in Canada these days, I've been seeing people getting hired by the majors at 2,500 turboprop time (not PIC), it just seems that things are a bit better in the white North; not the pay though :=


bafanguy,

You had to put an "attention to all student pilots, dangerous post read at your own discretion" sign at the top of your post... discouraging and somewhat unrealistic stuff indeed. 5000 hours turbine PIC, college degree, clean record, and no interview? I'm sure no one will stay and wait so long for an interview if it really was the case... Asia and the Middle East are in constant need for such pilots, the pay is relatively good.

Actually they will...and it is...

A bit of Compass info dated today. That referral bonus might provide a little incentive for the Compass troops to run out and shake the bushes:


"...Compass pilots will soon have the opportunity to earn a referral bonus of up to $10,000 for each successful pilot they refer to the company."

Compass Airlines Raises First Year Pilot Pay to $41.00 per Flight Hour

The issue regionals are now having (at least at Envoy) is that there are now a considerable amount of FO's bypassing upgrade because it's not financially worth the QOL hit. CA seats are going unfilled on vacancy bids due to lack of FO's wanting to upgrade and/or bypassing.

They're increasing FO pay like crazy but captain pay at most regionals hasn't been touched.

Isn't upgrade mandatory at some point? It was in old contracts, usually something like "upgrade within 12-24 months of the upgrade of a junior in-base pilot".

GF

Nope they just cap their pay if they don't upgrade.

havick,

I understand not wanting to take the QOL hit but are the FOs bypassing upgrade those who already have the turbine PIC square filled ? While it's "possible" to get hired at a non-regional career spot without it, wouldn't those aspiring to move on want to have every asset they can considering how capricious that game is ?

GF,

That rings a faint bell as an AA thing. I think I remember my AA buddies mentioning something about that but it was long ago. No telling what they're doing these days. I'd be philosophically opposed to something like that.