Herkdrv

Hello I was wondering if any Qantas pilots could help me out. Are there any Americans working there? If not is that because its hard to convert our ratings? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

vizz1

no internationl pilot has a hope of flying for qantas or any other australia airlines reason: there are a heap of pilots waiting to go into qantas and other airliners, you need to be sponsored by qantas to work for qantas ( if your international)

even if you have all the quailifications and most suitible for the position, you won't get hired, the government won't allow it, ( i've ask a couple of my mates at qantas about this). there too many australia ( myself included) waiting for a position at qantas or any of the other carries. so you better look somewhere else

__________________
Lamborghini pride

'Ah to be young and foolish again'

Typhoonpilot

There are/were Americans in Australia, they scabbed during the dispute in 89

Vizz is right though, anybody from the outside trying to break into Australian aviation via a legitimate route will find it nearly impossible. That is one country where seemingly everyone wants to be a pilot. They create so many pilots that thousands find themselves outside of Oz looking for work.

To quote a colleague of mine ( and one heck of a good pilot ), " converting my ratings to an Australian ATPL was one of the hardest things I have ever done ".

It is theoretically possible to use "commercial pilot" as a method to immigrate to Australia. You would need to get at least an Australian CPL, be under age 40, and deposit A$100,000 into an account. That would most likely get you enough "points" to immigrate. Quite a few Zims have done that. Their families are there but they still work outside of Oz.

It would take quite a few years, but with that method you could end up with an Australian citizenship and then maybe have a shot at Qantas.

The problem with Oz is that is the only good job there. QA's new start-up low cost operators virtually guarantee that very few people will be hired by mainline in the future.


Typhoonpilot

captjns

Some America West pilots went down under to help out Rupert (a minor shareholder in HP at the time) and his gang. As a present, and in return, HP acquired 12 -200s and a simulator from Uncle Rupert.

Herkdrv

Thanks guys just looking at all my options. I know Cathay has some domeciles in Australia. Could this be an alternate route to living down under?

Typhoonpilot

Yes, but you would still have to have right of abode in Australia.


TP

trenttdk

G'day,

I fly for QF and I'm from the US originally. There are about 5-10 of us, other than the guys who joined Australian during the 1989 dispute. Total # of pilots in mainline is about 2400. Most of what the other guys said is true. Oz has too many pilots chasing too few jobs. Obviously it can be done because I, and a few others, have done it. The biggest problem will be getting the immigration issues sorted. Once you do that, you're like every other pilot trying to get in- you'll be judged on merit and hired, or not, accordingly. So, your first step is immigration, then worry about aviation side of things. Cheers, TDK

KoruPilot

I wonder how many pilots JetStar will suck up? They have a huge order for 787's and are actively seeking pilots at the moment. CX would still be the best option if you could get an Aussie or Kiwi work permit (either gives you the right to work trans-tasman. I know as I have gone through all this in the past three years); even New Zealanders have a hard time getting into QF though, so the lads are certainly correct when they say 'good luck'. They can't just head over and fly for United or Continental, hence the animosity.

The licence is not much of a worry as long as you have an ATPL and the requisite time on a multi crew aircraft. Friends who fly for Pacific Blue transfered their US ATPL's to Aussie, then used that to get the trans- tasman credited NZ ATPL (you can work it the other way around as well, but for whatever reason this was the route they had to take). Going about it the other way, by writing a bunch of exams that rival the British ones, is something you will want to avoid.

I converted a Canadian ATPL to the NZ by writing the law exam and doing a ride in a multi crew aircraft, which I did with my first employer in NZ. No worries there. I did require 500 hours command or 1000 co on a multi crew aircraft, and it had to be on a valid/current ATPL, so my time in other licences was useless. Luckily I had all that at the time.

Also, I converted before I had a work permit. Got the work permit and went to fly for a local operator, then went to mainline Air NZ when I became a resident.

That all took three years.

trimotorman

KoruPilot - Thanks for all of you detailed info, both here and in other threads. I have recently received NZ permanent residence and will be coming back down soon from the US. I'm in the NZ airline job market and with your inside knowledge of this and as a recent immigrant, I'd like to ask some questions that may not be pertinent to this thread. I'm new to APC and cannot PM yet. Could you do so and I'll write back? Thanks.

Best of luck to all who are seeking a brighter future!! Good on ya!!!

trimotorman

KoruPilot

G'day Trimotor,

Thing's here are a bit slow with Air NZ at the moment as they figure out where they are headed. The Star Alliance thing has not been good for us at all, but it would appear that it is staying for the time being, so personally I don't see any expansion until things change here. That said, the regionals will be doing some hiring, and there is ample opportunity for a jet job if you have NZ permanent reasidence and don't care about the majors.

At any rate, I'll try this PM thing.