Situation in Brazil

swisspilot · October 20th, 2009, 11:50

Some time ago somebody asked about jobs in Brazil, I tried to answer that topic but it's closed.

Well I live in Brazil now, and I can share some details about flying jobs over here.

Aviation seems in pretty good health. Most of the regionals are hiring, they have new planes on order, and most of them will be delivered in 2010 (almost all EMBs). Corporate departments are growing and almost every flight school I have been to is hiring CFIs. The local FAA, ANAC offers the locals to pay for their training!

An FAA license can be validated, you have to sit for a law exam, medical, english p. test and one flight ck.

So far so good, getting the validation started it's a mess, at ANAC most people you talk to do not speak any english, only peoples at the upper levels speak english (you can't talk to them unless you have contacts).
You even need to know portuguese for the medical exam, there is a written psycho test. Every document you turn in has to be translated and signed by a notary. Your High school diploma has to be recognized (if you have a college degree don't tell them unless it will take forever), that means you have to take it to a brazilian consulate in US (or send it), then to this office, there is one at the American University in Rio, to get it signed. Your loogbook is not valid in Brazil, so you will have to copy all your hours on a new brazilian one, the last fligth you did has to be signed by a CFI, the FBO you rented the plane from,...somebody that can say you actually flew that day, has to be within 120 days from your application for the validation.

The regulation test it's not so hard, there is lots acronyms, and you can't find them anywhere, best thing is to join a Flight School and get some ground lessons. A fligth hour in a single over here it s a bit more expensive than in the US but the hour rate of the CFI is lower so I would say it costs the same, twins are really expensive. There is lots of local made planes and some pipers built by embraer (like the archer, warrior and the trubo arrow), most flight schools do private training in this old taildraggers that look like a supercub, IFR is usually done in an high perfomance single.

Well when you have your license you need a work permit. 4 ways to get that: marry a brazilian, get a stable union with a brazilian (easy, it's like a brazilian marriage only, a bit less paperwork and can be done at the notary in couple hours), have a kid born from a brazilian or invest 25000 dollars in something..Most company are not allowed to sponsor and to work for an airline you need to be brazilian.

Salary for pilots are about the same than in the US, but life is a lot cheaper.

Of all the places I have been to, USA, Europe, Asia, Middle east and Africa I think Brazil has a crazy strong industry and grow in avaition.

It's hard to get down here, but not impossible

MFT1Air · October 20th, 2009, 12:36

Quote:

Well when you have your license you need a work permit. 4 ways to get that: marry a brazilian, get a stable union with a brazilian (easy, it's like a brazilian marriage only, a bit less paperwork and can be done at the notary in couple hours), have a kid born from a brazilian or invest 25000 dollars in something..Most company are not allowed to sponsor and to work for an airline you need to be brazilian.

Get a stable union with a brazilian. . .I like that. How easy is it to "deunion?"

willpilot · October 20th, 2009, 15:57

Hey man am curious am a brazilian I live in the u.s for 20 years now got all my training here am a single mulit instrument commercial pilot. Hows the jobs there ? one of the things I worry is I have to switch license right. Can u get a job there with a FAA license and 250hrs ?? thx

swisspilot · October 20th, 2009, 17:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by willpilot

Hey man am curious am a brazilian I live in the u.s for 20 years now got all my training here am a single mulit instrument commercial pilot. Hows the jobs there ? one of the things I worry is I have to switch license right. Can u get a job there with a FAA license and 250hrs ?? thx

You need a Brazilian license, you get that based on a validation of your FAA license, takes a bit to get. As I said hiring is good, 250TT is good most brand new pilot here have less than that.

swisspilot · October 20th, 2009, 17:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by MFT1Air

Get a stable union with a brazilian. . .I like that. How easy is it to "deunion?"

Done in a day. If you lived less then 2 years in Brazil, you will loose your work permit......

willpilot · October 20th, 2009, 18:05

I heard from some that I could be spending a lot of money and that I would have to retake some check rides too... are these guys flying for the regionals with less than 250tt ...Am actually kind of interested I mean theres just nothing going on here right now. How long would the process take to get it validated in brazil. last thing u know any websites were I can find job info in brazil for pilots.. thanks swiss

swisspilot · October 20th, 2009, 21:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by willpilot

I heard from some that I could be spending a lot of money and that I would have to retake some check rides too... are these guys flying for the regionals with less than 250tt ...Am actually kind of interested I mean theres just nothing going on here right now. How long would the process take to get it validated in brazil. last thing u know any websites were I can find job info in brazil for pilots.. thanks swiss

You will have to get some flight training, so that you can get use to the Brazilian airspace.

You will have to pay: for translations, the notary, medical exam, to recognize your High School Diploma, the application at ANAC and for the tests. You can get all this done with 1000 Reais.

Here in Rio, to do all this so far about 2 months.

Azul has hired guys with 200TT.....

well you can find info about South America on www.pprune.com

Boa Sorte

Alex

willpilot · October 20th, 2009, 22:37

thanks alex am gonna look into that am actually from rio too...my family is from volta redonda do you think my chances would be greater being that I speak english ? and I also did a jet transition course I got 40hrs in a ftd for the crj200. u been lots of help my friend thanks .

deadringer86 · October 21st, 2009, 04:03

So all I have to do is learn Portuguese, take some tests, and impregnate Alessandra Ambrosio? Sweeeeeeeet!

swisspilot · October 21st, 2009, 07:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by willpilot

thanks alex am gonna look into that am actually from rio too...my family is from volta redonda do you think my chances would be greater being that I speak english ? and I also did a jet transition course I got 40hrs in a ftd for the crj200. u been lots of help my friend thanks .

Well you have to be able speak English, also if most of the training and testing will be done in Portuguese.

I don't really know how much they care about a Jet Transition course, here you will be trained from scratch anyway, but I'm sure for the interview it's gonna help have some knowledge on that...

Ciao

MFT1Air · October 25th, 2009, 23:19

Of the two major cities, which would be the best for transitioning into flight training?

BCTAv8r · October 30th, 2009, 19:18

I know some commercial pilots in Brazil right now and from what I hear, the airlines there treat pilots much worse than the airlines here in the US. Best thing to do, specially with the crappy American aviation industry right now, would be to go fly there for a couple of years, build experience, and come back to the US.

Pilots are respected by the general population much more than in the US. But not by the airlines.

MFT1Air · November 1st, 2009, 14:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by BCTAv8r

I know some commercial pilots in Brazil right now and from what I hear, the airlines there treat pilots much worse than the airlines here in the US. Best thing to do, specially with the crappy American aviation industry right now, would be to go fly there for a couple of years, build experience, and come back to the US.

Pilots are respected by the general population much more than in the US. But not by the airlines.

I would be inclined to believe that given the significant economic depression in Brazil as a whole. Companies/organizations know if you fight them, they'll simply find someone else. Still. . .the opportunity to transition INTO seems greater than the U.S., comparatively speaking.

willpilot · November 4th, 2009, 23:49

hey alex ... how is the regional flying like there in terms of day trips do they last like 4 -5 days than your home... Do they pay for hotel and food when your away ..?? It's probably a stupid question but is it similar to the U.S ...?? thanks

swisspilot · November 5th, 2009, 09:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by willpilot

hey alex ... how is the regional flying like there in terms of day trips do they last like 4 -5 days than your home... Do they pay for hotel and food when your away ..?? It's probably a stupid question but is it similar to the U.S ...?? thanks

With Azul, which is the Brazilian Jet Blue (they are both owned by the same guy, Brazilian!) you work about 70 hours a month, 5 on 2 off and you have 4 to 5 weeks off a year, you don't really have many benefits like in the US. With most regionals you will be home everyday, you have unlimited travel so you can always fly home as passenger. The downturn with regionals is that they are never based in big cities and some of them are not so nice to live in.

This month a new regional is going to start service, SOL linhas Aereas....

Alex

BCTAv8r · November 5th, 2009, 10:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by swisspilot

With Azul, which is the Brazilian Jet Blue (they are both owned by the same guy, Brazilian!) you work about 70 hours a month, 5 on 2 off and you have 4 to 5 weeks off a year, you don't really have many benefits like in the US. With most regionals you will be home everyday, you have unlimited travel so you can always fly home as passenger. The downturn with regionals is that they are never based in big cities and some of them are not so nice to live in.

This month a new regional is going to start service, SOL linhas Aereas....

Alex

Thanks for the info. Do FOs still get paid R$3,000/month to start off?

I have a contact in Brazil that told me Gol pilots are leaving for Azul for faster upgrade times.

I might very well consider the Azul route once I'm done with school next year. I know you outlined somewhat the transition process. But how much do you think I could expect to pay total for the transition to the Brazilian certificates?

willpilot · November 5th, 2009, 11:10

alex your the man ..thank you very much my friend !!! and one more question how hard were the brazilian law test you said there was a portion of tests at anac that I had to take that would be in portuguese. Am brazilian but I lived here for 20 years. I can speak , read a bit and my writing sucks lol ...

swisspilot · November 6th, 2009, 15:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by BCTAv8r

Thanks for the info. Do FOs still get paid R$3,000/month to start off?

I have a contact in Brazil that told me Gol pilots are leaving for Azul for faster upgrade times.

I might very well consider the Azul route once I'm done with school next year. I know you outlined somewhat the transition process. But how much do you think I could expect to pay total for the transition to the Brazilian certificates?

It's about 3500 for an FO.

Before you can apply for a validation you need to be a resident, if you are Brazilian it does not matter where you live. There is no min requirement of flight time, for everything you will be probably in the 2000-2500 $, but this may vary.

Alex

BCTAv8r · November 6th, 2009, 16:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by swisspilot

It's about 3500 for an FO.

Before you can apply for a validation you need to be a resident, if you are Brazilian it does not matter where you live. There is no min requirement of flight time, for everything you will be probably in the 2000-2500 $, but this may vary.

Alex

I am Brazilian.

So how does one go about making it happen? Do I need to go to Brazil and convert everything and THEN apply or do I try to get a job there first? Are all the pilots based in SP?

swisspilot · November 6th, 2009, 20:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by BCTAv8r

I am Brazilian.

So how does one go about making it happen? Do I need to go to Brazil and convert everything and THEN apply or do I try to get a job there first? Are all the pilots based in SP?

Azul is based in Campinas SP.

I don't think any airline will look at your stuff unless you have a Brazilian License. With an FAA curriculum and a Brazilian license you are in a better position then most fresh CPLs here, most of them have between 150-200TT and the local standards are lower.

If you don't live in Brazil you need to get an ID and a CPF, then follow all the ANAC steps......once done apply.

Ciao!

swisspilot · November 6th, 2009, 20:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by willpilot

alex your the man ..thank you very much my friend !!! and one more question how hard were the brazilian law test you said there was a portion of tests at anac that I had to take that would be in portuguese. Am brazilian but I lived here for 20 years. I can speak , read a bit and my writing sucks lol ...

Pretty much everything will be in portuguese, from the psychological portion of the medical, law exam and fight ck.

Here you can find the books you need to study:
http://www.asaventura.com.br/site/default1.asp

Ciao!

swisspilot · November 6th, 2009, 20:38

BCTAv8r, do you live in Boca?

I flew there last SAT for dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory, I was in Florida for couple days, now I'm back in Rio.

BCTAv8r · November 6th, 2009, 20:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by swisspilot

Azul is based in Campinas SP.

I don't think any airline will look at your stuff unless you have a Brazilian License. With an FAA curriculum and a Brazilian license you are in a better position then most fresh CPLs here, most of them have between 150-200TT and the local standards are lower.

If you don't live in Brazil you need to get an ID and a CPF, then follow all the ANAC steps......once done apply.

Ciao!

Thanks Alex. I already have the CPF and ID. A buddy just went there a couple of months and got hired flying a lear. He said the Brazilian medical is a pain in the ass.

BCTAv8r · November 6th, 2009, 20:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by swisspilot

BCTAv8r, do you live in Boca?

I flew there last SAT for dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory, I was in Florida for couple days, now I'm back in Rio.

Sure do. The Cheese and Cake right next to the mall? I live two minutes away.

willpilot · November 6th, 2009, 23:27

damn bro hey BCTAv8r... I work 5 mins from the cheesecake factory ..I live in deerfield beach though you probably heard of tivoli !!! lol later man

October 20th, 2009, 11:50	#1
swisspilot Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Lugano Posts: 131	Situation in Brazil Some time ago somebody asked about jobs in Brazil, I tried to answer that topic but it's closed. Well I live in Brazil now, and I can share some details about flying jobs over here. Aviation seems in pretty good health. Most of the regionals are hiring, they have new planes on order, and most of them will be delivered in 2010 (almost all EMBs). Corporate departments are growing and almost every flight school I have been to is hiring CFIs. The local FAA, ANAC offers the locals to pay for their training! An FAA license can be validated, you have to sit for a law exam, medical, english p. test and one flight ck. So far so good, getting the validation started it's a mess, at ANAC most people you talk to do not speak any english, only peoples at the upper levels speak english (you can't talk to them unless you have contacts). You even need to know portuguese for the medical exam, there is a written psycho test. Every document you turn in has to be translated and signed by a notary. Your High school diploma has to be recognized (if you have a college degree don't tell them unless it will take forever), that means you have to take it to a brazilian consulate in US (or send it), then to this office, there is one at the American University in Rio, to get it signed. Your loogbook is not valid in Brazil, so you will have to copy all your hours on a new brazilian one, the last fligth you did has to be signed by a CFI, the FBO you rented the plane from,...somebody that can say you actually flew that day, has to be within 120 days from your application for the validation. The regulation test it's not so hard, there is lots acronyms, and you can't find them anywhere, best thing is to join a Flight School and get some ground lessons. A fligth hour in a single over here it s a bit more expensive than in the US but the hour rate of the CFI is lower so I would say it costs the same, twins are really expensive. There is lots of local made planes and some pipers built by embraer (like the archer, warrior and the trubo arrow), most flight schools do private training in this old taildraggers that look like a supercub, IFR is usually done in an high perfomance single. Well when you have your license you need a work permit. 4 ways to get that: marry a brazilian, get a stable union with a brazilian (easy, it's like a brazilian marriage only, a bit less paperwork and can be done at the notary in couple hours), have a kid born from a brazilian or invest 25000 dollars in something..Most company are not allowed to sponsor and to work for an airline you need to be brazilian. Salary for pilots are about the same than in the US, but life is a lot cheaper. Of all the places I have been to, USA, Europe, Asia, Middle east and Africa I think Brazil has a crazy strong industry and grow in avaition. It's hard to get down here, but not impossible

October 20th, 2009, 15:57	#3
willpilot Newbie Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: deerfield beach Posts: 16	Re: Situation in Brazil Hey man am curious am a brazilian I live in the u.s for 20 years now got all my training here am a single mulit instrument commercial pilot. Hows the jobs there ? one of the things I worry is I have to switch license right. Can u get a job there with a FAA license and 250hrs ?? thx

October 20th, 2009, 18:05	#6
willpilot Newbie Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: deerfield beach Posts: 16	Re: Situation in Brazil I heard from some that I could be spending a lot of money and that I would have to retake some check rides too... are these guys flying for the regionals with less than 250tt ...Am actually kind of interested I mean theres just nothing going on here right now. How long would the process take to get it validated in brazil. last thing u know any websites were I can find job info in brazil for pilots.. thanks swiss

October 20th, 2009, 22:37	#8
willpilot Newbie Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: deerfield beach Posts: 16	Re: Situation in Brazil thanks alex am gonna look into that am actually from rio too...my family is from volta redonda do you think my chances would be greater being that I speak english ? and I also did a jet transition course I got 40hrs in a ftd for the crj200. u been lots of help my friend thanks .

October 21st, 2009, 04:03	#9
deadringer86 Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Northern Utah Posts: 92	Re: Situation in Brazil So all I have to do is learn Portuguese, take some tests, and impregnate Alessandra Ambrosio? Sweeeeeeeet! __________________ CFI/CFII/MEI

October 25th, 2009, 23:19	#11
MFT1Air Old Skool Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Clear Lake, TX Posts: 1,599	Re: Situation in Brazil Of the two major cities, which would be the best for transitioning into flight training?

October 30th, 2009, 19:18	#12
BCTAv8r Old Skool Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Florida Posts: 6,745	Re: Situation in Brazil I know some commercial pilots in Brazil right now and from what I hear, the airlines there treat pilots much worse than the airlines here in the US. Best thing to do, specially with the crappy American aviation industry right now, would be to go fly there for a couple of years, build experience, and come back to the US. Pilots are respected by the general population much more than in the US. But not by the airlines.

November 4th, 2009, 23:49	#14
willpilot Newbie Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: deerfield beach Posts: 16	Re: Situation in Brazil hey alex ... how is the regional flying like there in terms of day trips do they last like 4 -5 days than your home... Do they pay for hotel and food when your away ..?? It's probably a stupid question but is it similar to the U.S ...?? thanks

November 5th, 2009, 11:10	#17
willpilot Newbie Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: deerfield beach Posts: 16	Re: Situation in Brazil alex your the man ..thank you very much my friend !!! and one more question how hard were the brazilian law test you said there was a portion of tests at anac that I had to take that would be in portuguese. Am brazilian but I lived here for 20 years. I can speak , read a bit and my writing sucks lol ... Last edited by willpilot; November 5th, 2009 at 15:47.

November 6th, 2009, 20:38	#22
swisspilot Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Lugano Posts: 131	Re: Situation in Brazil BCTAv8r, do you live in Boca? I flew there last SAT for dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory, I was in Florida for couple days, now I'm back in Rio.

November 6th, 2009, 23:27	#25
willpilot Newbie Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: deerfield beach Posts: 16	Re: Situation in Brazil damn bro hey BCTAv8r... I work 5 mins from the cheesecake factory ..I live in deerfield beach though you probably heard of tivoli !!! lol later man

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