What international airlines hire Americans?

[Golden Falcon]

Think FEDEX uses locally based operators for Chinese operations within China, but China Airlines is open to expats...as are many asian carriers...try singapore, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Gulf Air...all require heavy jet time, and most substantial time on type, or similar type...and trust me mobie, while we're not sky-kings on astronomical salaries...we are here on the going rate, not cheap replacements expats are overseas to fill the gaps created by not enough local pilots..period we would not be here if there were no shortage trust me...and there is no such shortage in the USA, so I wouldnt worry about it, at least not in the jet airline level

 

[typhoonpilot]

Here's a followup question. I have a few years before I'll even be free to fly for the airlines. With all the growth in China, what advantages would I have if I learned Chinese? Would an international company like Fedex pay a premium for an american pilot who speaks Chinese and is willing to be based in China?

Not likely, the language for aviation is English. A pilot doesn't need to know the language of a local airline, unless of course it's a French speaking airline uke: .

I speak pretty decent Mandarin and even I have a hard time understanding the controllers in mainland China when they are speaking to the local boys. You'd have to be pretty fluent for it to make any difference it regards to flying, and to what end ? About the only benefit you would have for being fluent in Mandarin would be for ground based jobs where you have to interact with the locals on a daily basis. Language skills in and of themselves would not be enough, you would have to fully understand the culture there for it to really make a difference.

I wouldn't say that overseas flying jobs pay more than the better jobs in one's home country. They may be about equal, but in general are lower than the carriers like Fedex, UPS, SWA, etc. The advantage is in a tax free compensation and housing allowances which allow you to save most of your salary.

In my present job I make the U.S. equivalent of the now, much lower, legacy widebody rates. I do not even come close to Fedex rates though.

Overseas carriers and contract work are really better for those of us furloughed from majors or who have had a rocky career. I wouldn't encourage a 25 year old to pursue a job overseas. When you are 35+ and stuck in a dead end position is when it starts to make more sense. We have a lot of guys in their 40s joining my company as F.O.s because they have the potential here to reach their career goals. Something that is not possible in their home country.

TP

 

[FL420]

Overseas carriers and contract work are really better for those of us furloughed from majors or who have had a rocky career. I wouldn't encourage a 25 year old to pursue a job overseas. When you are 35+ and stuck in a dead end position is when it starts to make more sense. We have a lot of guys in their 40s joining my company as F.O.s because they have the potential here to reach their career goals. Something that is not possible in their home country.
TP

Do you or any of the other valuable contributors to this thread have any info on overseas carriers who hire those of us unfortunate enough to have had a rocky career and then run afoul of the Smith/Quesada Age 60 rule?

 

[Say Again Over]

kingsize, Nowadays the controllers speak pretty good English in China, on the subject of total time, I don't think it's too bad at CX, someone in our forum got hired on the whale with less than 3000 hours, ex USN fighter pilot.

typhoonpilot, thanks for bringing up th point about Airbus systems knowledge and common sense (or lack thereof).

When speaking in generalizations, as we are, there will always be examples to argue the other side, but in general Americans are better at hand flying and Euros/Aussies have better knowledge.
by Typhoon

IMO your statement is total crap, I spent three good years working and training with the Brits, that's great that they have a harder exams, so what, pilots in the states have something they usually don't have, that's at least 1500 hours experience! Enough of that lame debate, my British counter parts were excellent pilots, hand flying and otherwise, I saw no difference in flying capabilities compared to us Yanks. By the way, when the Brits conduct an LPC / OPC, most of it is with the automatics off, not like a check ride in the USA, lol.

 

[QueensPilot]

What about Air Atlanta Icelandic? I've heard that they hire Americans, and could be some interesting flying.

 

[typhoonpilot]

IMO your statement is total crap, I spent three good years working and training with the Brits, that's great that they have a harder exams, so what, pilots in the states have something they usually don't have, that's at least 1500 hours experience! Enough of that lame debate, my British counter parts were excellent pilots, hand flying and otherwise, I saw no difference in flying capabilities compared to us Yanks. By the way, when the Brits conduct an LPC / OPC, most of it is with the automatics off, not like a check ride in the USA, lol.

I guess we can agree to disagree. I've spent longer than 3 years with pilots from all over the world and I stand by my statement. I would agree, however, that the Brits are excellent to fly with.


TP

 

[Say Again Over]

typhoonpilot

I am now currently employed in Asia, flying with pilots from all over the globe, I am not seeing any correlation of weak pilots from any particular location but I respect your opinion. Now if you want to talk about the Irish, that's another story.

 

[kingsize]

Good info.
I really like the thought of living overseas. I have before and I would love to again, as long as it's somewhere nice. I'm still a few years from decision time of leaving or staying active duty Air Force. I have to say that the $$$ is going to be a big factor. My status right now is so secure and I have quite a bit of flexibility and benefits. And from everything I've read about airline pay here and on other airline websites, I think a Field Grade officer in the Air Force (Major, LtCol), getting the pilot bonus, makes a total salary that comes pretty close to what a airline captain makes, within $20-50,000 anyways. That might seem like a lot, but I don't know if it really is considering it would take a few years in the airlines to even get up to an equivalent pay, and airlines are definitely not as secure, not to mention what seems like cutthroat competition and a pain in the ass hiring system to me. It might just be soemthing to look at further down the road, after active duty retirement. Maybe for my master's degree I'll do an in-depth analysis of compensation packages of various pilot jobs.

That Icelandic Airlines sounds like it might be a good time. I was even looking into RyanAir, or Scandinavian Airlines. RyanAir looks like real good job, paying about $100K early on as a captain, and you get to go home every night after work.

For the different chinese airlines, it obviously sounds like learning chinese is a non-factor since the controllers speak English...but would learning Chinese help in getting other high-paying aviation-related jobs? I mean, is FedEx in need of an American guy on the ground in China who has a flying background and can communicate with the Chinese air system?

thanks for all the replies. It's good stuff and being printed out for my "futre options" file

by the way, I have worked with some British fighter pilots and I think those guys are amazing, as good as any of the American fighters I worked with--motivated and fearless, not to mention they have more liberal operating envelopes.

 

[Say Again Over]

kingsize, as mentioned I live in Asia, I really enjoy this area a lot, my guess that having your language skills would be a huge plus on your resume for Chinese carriers, aside from that, you would be in great demand in the private sector.

 

[Flyin'Finn]

On the subject, any idea what competitive mins. for China Airlines F/O's (published 1,500 tt, with ATPL, jet time preferred) are? Having searched CX mins for S/O, and realizing average seems to be more like three/four times the published mins, plus jet time, I'm assuming China Airlines follows similar pattern?


FF

 

[Dizel8]

I was even looking into RyanAir, or Scandinavian Airlines.

SAS, Scandinavian Airlines, have people on furlough and at present things are not looking to good. Further, you would be required to have a european work permit and more likley than not, a full JAR license.

 

[Sandhu]

foreign pilots in India

If a non-Indian pilot wants to get placement in India, he or she has to get her license converted into an Indian one.The body which conducts the exams for pilots is DGCA(Director General of Civil Aviation).It takes very nominal fee, but clerical delays are involved.Most of the info is available at its website www.dgca.nic.in
India is running short of good pilots and industry is booming...
Goodluck!

 

[kingsize]

If a non-Indian pilot wants to get placement in India, he or she has to get her license converted into an Indian one.The body which conducts the exams for pilots is DGCA(Director General of Civil Aviation).It takes very nominal fee, but clerical delays are involved.Most of the info is available at its website www.dgca.nic.in
India is running short of good pilots and industry is booming...
Goodluck!

Sandhu, how are the benefits for the Indian airlines?? Decent pay? How about life in India? I'd guess any American pilot flying for them would be in one of their many, many gigantic cities?

 

[Sandhu]

Lemme try telling...

Sandhu, how are the benefits for the Indian airlines?? Decent pay? How about life in India? I'd guess any American pilot flying for them would be in one of their many, many gigantic cities?

Captains usually get around $5000 per month in regional airlines.Foreign trained candidates get a little higher(no exact idea how much).International Airlines has international pay standards. You may call it decent pay.
Life in bigger cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Banglore...in India is as good and lively as any other international city...means pubs, bars, big hotels...but no striptease, at least to my knowledge...and i do not mean New York kind of faster life here...however as compare to London, Delhi has much wider roads for driving fun, if you like it apart from flying....
Mumbai and Delhi are main or major flying hubs for international flights, and crew members stay mostly there around...

 

[sharpeye]

I am 29 years old and currently an FO on the 744. I am living my dream right now. I am from the US and before my current job I flew for a commuter in the states and also flew corporate. I was flying as PIC in a corporate gig and when I came here my salary increased by 50%. Now that is not to say I am making more then FOs in the states on the same aircraft, but it is better then what I was making. And on top of that, I have free housing and tax benefits that increase what I am really able to save each month (90% of my paycheck). As far as I am concerned I am getting valuable experience flying internationally, throughout the world, seeing and learning about different cultures, learning how to work with numerous nationalities. So would I recommend this to someone who is 25-30, yes, it is a great learning experience and you can save some money. Would I recommend it to someone who is 40-50? I don't know, I haven't been there and I don't know all of the facts when it comes to that, as far as pay with PICs in the states on widebodies. The one thing I do notice is that it is often times very hard on pilots who have families that live back home and they have to commute on their days off to see them. I am lucky or not so lucky, whichever way you want to look at it (I see both good points) but I am single and do not have a wife or kids so it is easier on me to be gone and away from the friends.

As far as who is hiring, I know China Airlines, Emirates, Gulf Air, Dragon Air, Singapore Airlines, EVA Air, Air Macau. PPrune has a section for the foreign carriers so if you want more info that's a good place to check or ask about a specific carrier here and I'm sure you'll get a lot of responses. Good luck.