Hey guys,

What about that airline that was hiring CRJ pilots in china? Is that a growing market?

You mean Mesa? And yes.

China and India will take almost any US pilot. Growing too fast in fact. Kingfisher and all the startups are looking to hire like crazy. Expat life there? Who knows?

hey, does anyone know if China actually cares if you did your training in 61 as opposed to 141?

I asked a couple of pilots about the life in places like India and China and they said it's really a good lifestyle all be it if you have a co-operative other. A lot of them said if your wife (husband) is willing then by all means do it as you will live a fairly good lifestyle. They did say however it's better if its later in life in your relationship or if you are single.

Like Typhoon pilot said though, if you are single be ready to date non-Americans in these places as American women are hard to come by.

I did hear both Kingfisher and Jet Airways are two of the best if you get a chance.

From the concenous I got from a pilot who just recently stopped by our school, as long as your western your hired.

Because China is growing at such a exceptionally high rate they are looking for anyone who is qualifyed legally.

Who are the players in China. I'm more interested in flying there than India(Kingfisher,Jet Airways). Also, does anyone know someone who's done this? So I have 270TT 60ME the last time I flew was 2002, are you saying if I get current ,I'm hired?! Who's my Capt. gonna be? Somebody with 10hrs more than me? Scarey!

so what are they called in china? do you go there or get hired in AZ?

I'd have to venture that 270 total time with a bit of multi, basically a bare commercial, will not get you anywhere with a regional operator overseas. The companies are mostly lookig for contract captains, current and endorsed with a minimum of time on type, as they have their own cadets for the right seat.

Seriously, I'm normally pretty positive when it comes to people giving it a go, but it has to be realistic, and your time is light by a couple thousand hours of turbine.

If you really want an offshore job with your time then your best bets are Papau New Guinee or Maun, Botswana. Or you could buy a type rating, go to Indonesia and hope you don't get killed.

Major players are China Southern, China Eastern, and United Eagle Air which hires almost exclusively ex-pats and have a translator if you are working with a Chinese national.

A lot of the other ones are relaxing their standards and are letting westeners in but the big one, Air China is still being rather strick.

Just a little correction, China Southern and China Eastern have NO expats. Only national pilots. So far only the private airlines in China are authorised to hire expat pilots. Hainan is the largest airline in China with expat pilots.

All this will change, as there is a shortage of CAPTAINS (only) at the moment.

Best of luck to anyone heading out to mainland China.