Originally Posted by
JoshH95
Hey everybody, some friends and I are currently flight instructors in the U.S. but we are thinking about going overseas to work for a foreign airline company. Unfortunately we have no idea where to start looking when it comes to which airline we should be looking at and where we should go or even how to contact these airlines to figure out what the requirements are to work for them. Right now we'd like to be in Spain, France, or somewhere in that area. If anyone has advice or suggestions it would be a big help!
You are a new member so perhaps a little guidance is in order.
As stated in the first response, to work in Europe you would need to have an EASA license and the right to work in the EU. The first one is a little difficult in itself because you would have to take the 14 written exams for the EASA license, which takes quite a bit of study. Assuming your desire is strong enough to make it past that hurdle, the second hurdle of right to work is even more difficult. Best bet would be to marry a European woman, or hope that you have a parent that is from Europe and you can get citizenship.
Europe itself is a pretty bad market for pilots. The plethora of low cost start-ups has really driven down the pay and working conditions there. That, and what seems to be an unlimited supply of rich British kids who buy type ratings in the A320 and B737 to get jobs at these low cost start-ups, and sometimes even buy flight time on those aircraft. That's your competition. Still interested?
If you really want to work overseas, it can be done, but it's usually in places like Asia and the Middle East. It takes a stepping stone approach that many have done successfully. It's doubtful you can go straight from flight instructing though. You'll need to get time in twins and then in either turboprops or smaller jets. Then you might be able to swing a job in a larger jet as a first officer, although you would likely be bonded for 3-5 years.
I type all this, and am sitting here thinking why you would want to do that when the USA is THE PLACE to be right now. The U.S. majors are hiring like they haven't hired since the 1980s. That is creating a lot of potential to move up and get experience in the USA. I'd stay put if I were you. Get to the point where you are at least a regional jet captain before looking at going overseas.
Typhoonpilot
P.S. You can also use the search function in this forum to look for numerous past threads on topics like this.