Originally Posted by
Typhoonpilot
Going to foreign carriers is generally something you do when there are shutdowns, bankruptcies, and stagnation in the USA. It is not something you aspire to when the U.S. majors are doing well and hiring. Foreign carriers are a stop-gap for short periods of time (less than 10-15 years in most cases and often even less than that). All the previous "good ones" have gone so dramatically downhill that they can't even hold a candle to a first officer position at a U.S. major nowadays.
Concentrate on those things and the answer is none of the above.
Typhoonpilot
Spoken by someone who knows. I agree completely. Been an expat pilot now for several years in several countries. Currently in the best expat job of my career, and in some ways my best job ever. We have a bidding system. There are so few local pilots in my current job that local jealousy is not a factor (and the few we do have get paid 2x as much). We have good layovers, good schedules, decent time off, great travel benefits. My pay and other benefits have been improved in the 18 months I've been here. No union! Even so, I'd be back in the States in a heartbeat if I could hold a decent left seat job there. I'm only doing this because my long term USA airline job ended in bankruptcy.