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March 17th, 2006, 20:05
| #1 |
| Senior Member  Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Queens/Grand Forks
Posts: 346
|  Flying for a Foreign Carrier
Right now with the current explosive growth of the aviation sector in Southeast Asia and the Middle East have any of you guys given the thought of maybe flying for a foreign airline? Personally I would love to fly for a European carrier such as Lufthansa. I am going to minor in German just in case I poke my eye out so I can teach German 101 in High School or maybe fly for LH if I am lucky.  Its just an idea I have on the backburner right now and I was just wondering if anyone else thought about the possibility.
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March 17th, 2006, 20:41
| #2 |
| Junior Member  Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: KDAL
Posts: 164
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It is an excellent idea, but most countries view the US ATP as a joke. Most of these carriers you mention require much more training to get your ATP. Right now Cathay Pacific is hiring and many US guys are interviewing with them. Cathay is one of the few that will accept a US ATP without converting it to JAA. If you would like more information than I can provide, you may want to check out Pprune.com. It is another forum board that focuses on foreign carriers.
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March 17th, 2006, 21:21
| #3 |
| Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Queens/Grand Forks
Posts: 346
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Yeah, working for the likes of Cathay Pacific really interests me. Thanks for the link. All I care about if any foreign carrier hires me is that the pay is comparable to that of the US airlines. With the salary cuts many airline pilots are facing in the US today I wouldn't be too worried. Plus I hope where I am based out of is a great city with a great city life. DXB and HKG are not bad choices for places to live.
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March 18th, 2006, 01:45
| #4 | |
| Old Skool  Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: San Diego
Posts: 7,624
| Quote:
He said that many of his colleagues at Cathay are either American, British or Australian.
__________________ "Time spent flying is not deducted from one's lifespan."  | |
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March 18th, 2006, 10:39
| #5 | |
| Senior Member  Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: CVG
Posts: 1,101
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As far as Cathay Pacific goes, I've read somewhere that you need to have 5,000+ hours or so to even get into their direct entry F/O program. You might have a better chance getting on with ANA or JAL.
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March 18th, 2006, 11:29
| #6 | |
| Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: KDAL
Posts: 164
| Quote:
Cathay does require quite a bit of experience for the direct entry FO program, but their SO program has lower minimums. If you would spend a couple years at a US regional flying a jet, you would be getting competitive for the SO program. I have around 2800tt, 1800multi, 1600turbine jet, an ATP, and one type rating. I am beginning to get competitive for the SO program. I have a good friend interviewing this month with Cathay for a direct entry FO position. He has 7000tt, 2500turbine pic, and 3 type ratings. JAL has an extremely extensive medical exam that many, many people do not pass. Once you don't pass any portion of the interview you are out. You don't get to re-apply in 6 months, you are done period. They also have a difficult sim ride in the 747-200. They also look to see that you will adapt to Japanese culture. They are the biggest 747 operator and have operated the airplane longer than any other carrier. They want it done their way and no other! If you are young, single and want to live in different parts of the world, flying for one of these carriers is the way to go. The pay is good, but the work rules are different than US carriers. You have to realize that you are dealing with different cultures who view life differently. | |
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March 18th, 2006, 11:36
| #7 | |
| Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: CVG
Posts: 1,101
| Quote:
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March 18th, 2006, 14:29
| #8 |
| Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: KDAL
Posts: 164
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The time it takes to go from SO to FO is like upgrade time. It depends on quite a few variables. You also need to look at how they run their program. You go from SO to an intermediate FO position, then onto the FO position, and then captain. If you go to there website it will show you both career paths, direct entry FO and direct entry SO. SO's start out on the 340, 330, 747, and I recently heard they were using them on the 777 as well. The SO position is more like a relief officer, you never touch the controls and I don't think they are even in the cockpit for takeoff and landing. When you move up it gets much better. Cathay's website explains both paths quite well. The last figure I heard was around 4 years to upgrade to the next position. Almost all SO's are based in Hong Kong to begin with. The SO's only fly the pax aircraft, when you can upgrade to FO you can go to the freighter side if you so desire. You make much more money on the pax side from what I understand. I had a 747 check airman from Cathay ride our jumpseat one day from Halifax to JFK. I was asking him most of these questions. Cathay has a lot of Canadians flying for them.
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March 19th, 2006, 14:59
| #9 |
| Senior Member  Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Grand Forks, USA/Istanbul, Turkey/Girne, North Cyprus
Posts: 589
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Yeah it is going to be pretty tough getting license transfers, the JAA forum on here explains alot for Europe, in my case, I am just a EU citizen as well as a Turkish citizen so I have that on my side to go work at home, and getting my liscense transfered, well it is going to be a pain if I do it with the experience I have, however I do rely on the fact that the airlines back home are expanding like crazy and have a really high demand. They take Mechanical Engineers and train them from scratch, however I am sure I will have plus having a Commercial Aviation degree. So when I go back this summer I will be doing a lot of research about getting hired back home. I will keep you all posted on how things go for the curious ones. But I love the idea, the world is bigger than the US! For some people that lack geography. |
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March 19th, 2006, 17:09
| #10 | |
| Old Skool Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: San Diego
Posts: 7,624
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__________________ "Time spent flying is not deducted from one's lifespan." | |
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March 19th, 2006, 18:59
| #11 | |
| Banned Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 7,329
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March 19th, 2006, 19:54
| #12 | |
| Old Skool Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: San Diego
Posts: 7,624
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__________________ "Time spent flying is not deducted from one's lifespan." | |
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March 19th, 2006, 23:51
| #13 |
| Old Skool  Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: ARB - in a backpack
Posts: 2,471
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i'm hungry. (and flying international sounds like a badass idea for us loose cannons who dont mind boppin' around the globe with no wife to tie us down!) |
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March 21st, 2006, 14:51
| #14 | |
| Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Grand Forks, USA/Istanbul, Turkey/Girne, North Cyprus
Posts: 589
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March 21st, 2006, 16:04
| #15 | |
| Old Skool Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: San Diego
Posts: 7,624
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__________________ "Time spent flying is not deducted from one's lifespan." | |
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March 22nd, 2006, 05:53
| #16 |
| Old Skool  Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: G-Forks, ND/ NYC
Posts: 3,373
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I'm hungry too. Chicken bowl, oyakodon, sooooooo good. My bowl shown in the pic, hehe.  |
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