KoruPilot

A whole lot of action on this site as of late with a bunch of action on the threads so I figured I'd kick in some advice from the quiver that has worked for many a pilot, including myself in the past.

GET A JP FLEET GUIDE. For those in the cheap seats, get a bloody JP Fleet Guide.

The JP Fleet Guide is a book that plane spotters use as porn for pilots, but it's also a perfect start for the budding aviator with 'round about 1000 to 2000 hours (or less frankly).

Decide where you want to start looking as far as the area of the world and start hunting. The guide has the types flown, fleet numbers and contact details for literally every air operator on the planet with aircraft bigger than a C182. Then, send off the CV's and call as many as you can. After that, if there are some bites from operators in a couple of places that you think you might want to spend some time go buy yourself an around the world ticket. Due to the current 'crisis' you can get around the world one way, with the odd side trip and 4 or five stops, for around a couple grand.

I have a close personal friend who took this exact advice, with a total of 320 hours and a multi IFR, and went to a small African country about four years ago. C206, C208, ATR42 and now a B737NG (the company paid for the rating and he was paid during training, just like it should be) he's in HKG having a ball.

A quick note for those with a bit of turbine time, Solenta out of SA does a bunch of flying all over Africa and the ME. There are a few nice little TP operations out of the Emirates. PNG (the country)always seams to require pilots. The Hawaiian contracts for Dash 8's in Japan are quite good money wise. India is very good money for TP guy's; better than many Jet jobs.

I think the days of young aviators whining about the QOL in Alaska flying a B1900 are over for a while guy's. I've seen the odd snippet alluding to that kind of thinking, but it's going fast. The reason I mention this; overseas operators have no time for 500 hour cowboys who watched Top Gun a few too many times, and there are no laws keeping them from throwing your but out of the company and country at whim. I saw a guy's (bad)reputation follow him from the Gulf to Canada once so try to keep the old nose clean as the contract world is unbelievably small.

Be cool and a bit humble and you will do well. If your serious about it then good luck. Worst case you don't like it and go back home to flip burgers. Best case is you have a blast, some wicked experiences, meet some very cool people and end up in the left seat of a jet making good money in way less time then it would have taken you back home.

Just my two cents, again. Hope it helps.

shanKs

Very solid advice. As a fairly recent expat myself I can't help but look back and say thank god I'm not back stateside during this mess (this is a shared thought among many over here). I'm on the corporate side of things but Asia is beginning to look very good for typed pilots with a little command time. It does take some time getting used to a different culture but I would not trade this time for anything. Also the flight experience gained operating internationally every flight really adds to the overall marketability on your resume.

The airlines over in Asia are starting to take a hit on fuel prices, but I sometimes question the business practice of US airlines when most airlines over here are still posting record profits (ie Cathay and others) and still paying damn good wages for pilots. Be prepared as your schedule will probably not be as good, seniority can sometimes be non-existant, and non-revving about the same (this is what I hear from the airline guys here as I am not working for a carrier). The only real negatives that I'm hearing about are some Chinese airlines and their shady contract practices, and the fact that you aren't represented by a real union does have its drawbacks. Good luck and my thoughts are with those recently finding themselves out of a job.

asdf

what is "jp fleet guide"? Doing a google search returns three hits, one of which is this thread.

KoruPilot

JP Airline Fleets is sold mainly through a company out of Switzerland. You can find it for sale in good pilot shops or check out a recent issue of Airliners as they usually advertise.

Kenny

You might also want to try and get a copy of the Flight International, World Airlines Directory that they do once a year. I'm not sure if they've already done one for this year but an email to their subscription dept. will probably get you a copy of last years.

Being an expat isn't for everyone; we'd all like to be home because lets face it, nowhere is like home but the thing to remember is that it doesn't have to be forever.

There's a big, bright world out there where pilots are needed and funnily enough, where they're not treated like bus drivers. If you're prepared for an adventure and bit of the unknown, there are exciting opportunities to be had.

BURflyer

It might be a good idea to spend a few years abroad and then come back when things pick up again. Right now the industry is at a low point that's probably going to continue for a while. However I do believe there will be a mass shortage of pilots here in the states within the next decade. And right now there are very few pilots who are flight training to be come commercial pilots so there will be a big gap of qualified pilots.

KoruPilot

Very salient point I think.

Did not a whole bunch of over 60's come back to fly in the last couple of years? The current furlough numbers out there appear to match the hangers on to some degree. And with the aforementioned lack of training I wonder if the US airlines will not run into, once again, a huge shortage due to an extreme lack of foresight.

nicholasblonde

I was jumpseating on a FedEx flight the other day, and the captain told me he felt that anyone who could keep their job and keep flying through the next 2-5 years would have it made once things inevitably get better (even if only slightly better). I know tons of regional FOs who--if and when they get furloughed--have zero intention of ever coming back to aviation...our internet generation and the extremely low pay makes it to where most people will just give up and go do something that pays better...no one my age is going to wait around for a recall letter. This also factors into flight training--most aspiring aviators of the text-messaging, reality-TV era don't have the patience (or cash) to make it through a CPL or instructing b/c now they don't have the promise of immediate gratification--flying the shiny jet they wanted to fly.

Plenty of people were willing to shell out 50K to fly an RJ within a year...but how many are willing to now shell out 90-100K+ to fly an RJ "possibly within the next 5 years."

And the elderlies in the left seats at all the majors will eventually have to leave...which from most economic history looks to be right around when things should rebound..

A triple whammy--no one is training to become pilots, existing pilots (both young and old) will eventually vacate the profession voluntarily or involuntarily, and the economy and fuel prices will eventually reverse trend. I predict anyone left standing with fresh 121 time in 4-5 years will have some great opportunities.

Giggity

Yeah, all right!! A little positivity!! Good on ya!

Frank Bama

yea Nicholasblonde, except that the good old USA has that pesky seniority thing. By the time the good times roll around here again all of us who are qualified will be over sea's. Then what?