Working For Delta But Based In Europe?
 

Hi,

Is it possible or does it ever happen, that you have your US pilot credentials, and FAA medical, and work for Delta or other majors, but base yourself in Europe? (granted you have permission to reside there legally)

ie Do any US airlines have Europe hubs to reside near and work from?

No passenger airlines. FedEx has a pilot base in Cologne, Germany.

There are several Delta pilots who commute from Europe.

When you say commute from Europe, do you mean they fly for example from where they live in say London, to New York, then start working on their flight from JFK to wherever,.....then spend their days off traveling back home?

Or they fly from where they live in Europe?

When you say commute from Europe, do you mean they fly for example from where they live in say London, to New York, then start working as a pilot from JFK

Or they live near where they start their work from specific hubs or commute to those hubs......

Does anyone have a contact?

Commuting means commute... so yes that means flying as a passenger on your time off and then start working out of JFK or whatever base. A contact for what?

Basically every trip will start and end in the U.S. Some will start with a deadhead but I would think those trips are very much in the minority. Most people that I've talked to that commute from overseas try to group their trips together in close succession then group a bunch of days off so they're only commuting a handful of times a month rather than before and after each trip. Also keep in mind that at least at Delta it's very probable that you will start on a domestic-only narrowbody like the 737 or A220, so you'll have to do that for a couple of years minimum before you can even sniff some international flying. And of course even at that point you'll be on reserve quite a bit and I really don't think even with a 12 hour call out you'll be able to be in Europe for any of that.

The good news about reserve at Delta is with a little seniority you can group the entirety of your reserve obligation into one long stretch, again minimizing the times you'd need to commute.

Hey thanks for this blunt but detailed assessment of what it would entail.

Are any of these Delta specific cadet programs any good, or have you just as much chance working for Delta by training anywhere and working regional and then applying as a pilot direct to Delta later on some day?

Definitely #2

Shammy

Assuming you have the right to work in the United States,
A 4 year college degree

Then

You will need to spend, based on today’s pilot market , I would say 4-6 years at a regional airline before you can be competitive for a job at Delta or any other Major

PS
you will need 1500 hours with some exceptions and ATPL certificate to apply with the regional airlines