Originally Posted by
Clear Right
If I was a senior AMR captain with the kids off at college or out of the house, I would be applying to overseas direct entry captain jobs yesterday. Save a ton of money while abroad that nobody can touch, even uncle Sam, most is tax free.
The pilots still at American would be well advised to talk to pilots from USAirways, Delta, NWA, and others that left to go overseas. Many regret the move even after losing their pensions and taking huge pay cuts at their respective carriers.
We've got quite a few here at EK that fall into that boat. The Delta B777 Captain that was demoted to B777 First Officer here for a bad approach and some bad sim sessions. The NWA A330 Captain that was demoted to First Officer after an almost identical scenario. The USAirways A320 captain that used to use the race card at USAirways to get by. Failed training here and was fired by the black chief pilot, which was backed up by the black fleet manager.
Anybody read Pprune and the diatribe by an ex Delta B767 Captain who was fired by Korean? It was attitude that did him in. Lots of guys don't make it through training at KAL.
It's a different world overseas. All those union protections that pilots in the USA are used to do not exist.
Even pilots who have done well in training and adjusted to the life overseas have regrets. There are quite a few who would make a different decision if they could turn back the clock.
When I was an MD80 Captain in Taiwan ( furloughed USAir at the time ) I said I would go back to USAir because being a first officer at a major in the USA was better than being a captain overseas. Still had a pension to go back to then
In 1999 I did go back and was quite happy as a B737 First Officer. It was a far better QOL than living overseas.
Those who know me on this board know that I work for EK and have for 9 years now. I write about the hiring and opportunities at EK, but my audience should be those who are furloughed; retired early with their pension; or guys who are still at the regionals/supplementals and too old to make a good career out of a major. My audience was never meant to be senior legacy captains who are a bit unhappy because of a pay cut and some work rule changes. The QOL is still way better at a bankrupt legacy than it is overseas.
Typhoonpilot