Originally Posted by BeardedFlyer

I've never even heard of Copa before The Dominican's post in here. This is your first time seeing anything about this F/O spot isn't it? A lot of the pilots who might be in situations that would allow them to pack up and head for Panama probably don't even know about it.

Also, if you're plan is to go back to a major in the US you will need that jet PIC time which according to claims on here and PPRuNe about their upgrade times looks like you won't get at Copa. Rumors also say they are only paying 3k monthly. If the goal is to get to a major in the US then the smarter route is still through the regionals; you will get the PIC time faster, stay in your own country, and make more money.

For a US pilot it seems like all this FO job at Copa will put you on the fast track to is a career as a foreign contract pilot at a place like Air Japan or one of the other high paying overseas airlines that will hire a guy with only type SIC time then let him eventually upgrade. Sure after finishing your first contract as a captain you will have your jet PIC time and could easily come back to a major in the states but that will be about 10 years later (after you first went to Copa). At that point who would leave a stable, $200,000yr job to start at the bottom of the seniority list at a US major making 1/4 of that? When you're talking about the long term career plan, most pilots born and raised in the US would prefer to stay there.

This is just my theory... which you probably should pay no attention to since I'm really just a low time commercial pilot sitting on the couch with a broken arm and hardly any first hand experience when it comes to the world of professional aviation.