Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Bottom line...
IF you can get right to work in the US, the airline employment opportunities here will far exceed those in Canada for someone of your age. Even if you like living in Canada, you still do that and commute to work at any of a number of northern US pilot bases.
In the US, in the current hiring climate (which should last 10-15+ years), you do not need any relationship with a regional, you essentially get to pick the one you work, except that ones owned by AA which offer flow to AA are a little more picky.
I would think that the first thing you need to do is decide where you want to live and work long-term, and then select a school accordingly.
Yes, all the above is true. At NetJets I flew with quite a few pilots from other countries, including one who flew Mig-21's for the Yugoslav Air Force which I thought was very cool. Also at NetJets we have a pilot with dual Canadian-US citizenship. He lives in a ski town in the Canadian Rockies and drives 4 hours to Spokane, WA to catch his airline to work. I'm pretty sure we have others than live in Toronto and commute to Buffalo. So I would not sweat getting the right to work in the USA and eventual citizenship if you want it.
I'm surprised you said it's cheaper to take flying lessons in Canada? I was under the impression fuel is more expensive up there? There's also the exchange rate that favors the US dollar.