Originally Posted by
AirbusA320
Get your USA ATP and work on your JAA/EASA ATPL.
I believe there are 14 exams to take. It is the equivalent of two years of college.
So if you think you are good? The JAA ATPL will make you better.
What is grivation?
What is the minimum micro tesla units for a magnetic compass to operate properly?
Name the layers of the ionosphere and what altitudes are they found?
What is the maximum compass deviation allowed for a standby compass?
What is an optimum frequency for an HF radio?
I believe I heard some of the Mideast carriers like the JAA ATPL and Cathay Pacific gets a ha*don over it. At least you could do a distance learning course and get through the exams and put it on Curriculum Vitae (JAA speak for a resume).
As someone once told me, “The more you know about a subject the more you realize you didn’t know.”
Those example questions are the perfect indication of why the JAA liscense is such a bunch of BS. When I flew in Europe I flew with FOs who knew the answers to those questions but couldn't fly a visual approach. It's been my experience that Europeans spend waaaay to much time concentrating on the trees and miss the forest entirely. I'll bet the Air France guys knew their sink rate in FPM, MPS and MPH but they didn't know how to save the jet.
A foreign airline can hire you with only an FAA certificate if they want to go the extra mile and have your certificate "validated" by the local authorities. This validation will "liscense" you to fly their aircraft for a limited time. If they don't want to bother, either because they have enough qualified applicants or they just don't want to raise their profile with the local authorities, You will need a JAA liscense.
I'd recommend just getting the FAA ATP and get on with your career.