American Airlines? Never. Subpar regional paying and QoL yes. PDT has guys on visas from Australia, New Zealand and South America. Probably to expensive to send recruiters to Europe. Plus their licensing is different from what I hear and even these regionals are paying for training.

 

Chances are zero, or as close to zero so as to be essentially zero.

It would need to be a near apocalyptic shortage before AA, UAL, DAL or any others go that far. Euro land rules are soooo different, that only Captains and FOs with large amounts of time (by Euro standards) would meet the requirements, and most of those would turn their nose up because at that stage, they're probably doing pretty well at home and would turn their nose up at anything that wasn't a direct entry PIC position ("what? I have to start at the bottom of some list?")

Euro style "cadet" or "self funded" programs are a non starter in the US because of the ATP rules. Those aren't ever going to change.

That's just the technical quals. Says nothing of the visa issue, which is challenging. Comparing it to Aussie rules is apples/oranges, since the Aussies get a special visa deal for being best buds with the US.

Euro military types are welcome right now if they can solve the visa issue. This is pretty ironic because they're time is not all that appreciated by airlines on their home turf like they are here.

 

I should also add, these staffing shortages have nothing to do with a lack of ability to attract pilots. There are plenty of us who have already interviewed with CJOs that have been waiting for 18+ months. Plus thousands lined up behind us hoping for an interview. That’s not even mentioning that AA only has 40-50% of their new hire slots not filled due to flow agreements. Anytime you’re talking to an AA recruiter and not a military pilot near the end of your contract they will probably send you to a wholly owned carrier to flow. The reality is if you want to be at AA that’s probably the best bet as a civilian. Only 10-12% of all new hires are civilians that get hired off the street. Meaning most years you’re competing against 1000s for 80-120 slots. I wrote letters almost every month, updated my app every single day for years. I put in my app after it was professionally reviewed by 2 different companies when I was an FO with less than 300 hours. Wrote a cover letter and sent it out to anyone and everyone who might help me get in. I heard nothing for a couple years until I reached 500 TPIC and got the call. I was extremely fortunate to get the call with that low of time as a pure civilian but it didn’t come with a lack of effort. My main point is AA doesn’t need to look anywhere for pilots and in about 5 years there will be a lot less slots available per year. They are front loading hiring now for the retirements coming up.

 

The “pilot shortage” that inspired this thread was a result of a training bubble. AA got behind on bringing back and prequalifying furloughed pilots. From everything I see today, that problem is officially solved. Tons of reserves everyday and haven’t seen any premium going out in over a week.

 

Premium still flows like wine in MiA 737 FO.

 

Glad to hear

 

You got that right. Neighbor of mine is on the MIA 737 FO scheduling desk. He is pulling his hair out to get enough coverage.

He says it will continue to be so until all the furloughed FO are requalified, and to a lesser extent until enough new hires get though training. The first should be complete by end of August. The later likely will be through spring or summer of 2022 (unless the Epsilon variant has a major impact on flying.)

 

All I fly is premium

 

https://agimmigration.law/en/aviation/

The tide is changing..

 

You know one thing I think we should be thinking about more now than ever before as airline pilots is the very same “work life balance” that I hear being touted by workers in other industries. If the average American work week goes from 5 days down to 4 (or possibly even 3 as work from home becomes permanent in some industries) that puts the average number of days off in a month for most Americans at 12 to as much as 15 or 16...

One of the alludes of this job is time off. What happens to that allure when everyone else enjoys the same? I think labor representation should be looking at contractual min days off in the ballpark or around 15 days /month. Management should be interested in it too. If this profession is to survive it will have to become more lucrative and more attractive for those who seek enhanced quality of life over other careers.