Where to start?
 

Hello everyone!
I just started working at regional but my final goal to is to work overseas. Asia or Europe or even the Middle East fine with me. I was wondering if converting the FAA license to ICAO is a worthy investment or it makes more sense to look for a job at an airline that hires pilots with the FAA certificate. Is there anyone currently working overseas that has any advice on where to start looking and what to start thinking about even that's still quite a few years from applying?
Thanks

I don't work for an overseas outfit, but have applied and been invited for an interview (twice) with Cathay. I have your run-of-the-mill ATP. From what I gather, if you make the grade with CX, in training they will get you through the appropriate hoops to get the licenses from the Hong Kong authorities. Not sure about elsewhere...

So, I would save the $$ on getting any sort of FAA ticket converted to "international acceptance." Any non-US company that hires Americans has some kind of process in place to make you legal. If you're looking to work for some foriegn outfit that does not have that US citizen hiring process in place, then I'd say your biggest hurdles are citizenship issues, not flying licenses.

I have converted my license a couple of times now and it is pretty easy. There is no ICAO license that I know of, yet, just licences that are acceptable to ICAO, which includes of course the FAA ticket.

Both the Saudi and Bahraini conversions required that I sit the AIP (law) exam for each country. I then did a check ride in the type I was to fly. In New Zealand it was the same, I had to sit the law exam, but I also required a current ATPL with 1000 co-pilot or 500 command on a multi-crew aircraft, and it was to be on the license I was to convert, and that license had to be current. I had to use co-pilot time from ages ago as my command time was on a license that was not current (I ended up converting my Canadian ATPL). I did a co-validation for Panama but it was as a trainer/checker so it was just a ride with the DGCA inspector I was to deal with throughout the contract, and it had to be renewed every three months.

My buddy started flying in Botswana a couple years ago and he converted a bare canadian commercial to theirs (300 total time), and again, just a co-validation.

The JAA is a different story. To convert the ATPL you require a heap of large jet (not turboprop, something in the range of a B737 as a minimum I think)command, I think the number is 1000, plus a total time minimum. Otherwise, it is sitting all the ATPL exams, 7 or 8 I think.

There you go. It's lots of fun and normally pretty decent pay and conditions as long as you are ever so slightly choosy with who you work for. Good luck with it.

[quote=KoruPilot;95100]The JAA is a different story. To convert the ATPL you require a heap of large jet (not turboprop, something in the range of a B737 as a minimum I think)command, I think the number is 1000, plus a total time minimum. Otherwise, it is sitting all the ATPL exams, 7 or 8 I think.quote]

I think its 14 exams, and that the 700hrs class room instruction is waived with an ICAO ATP.

A minimum of 3,000 hours as pilot of public transport aircraft over 30,000 kgs MTWA on scheduled international or similar routes, a minimum of 1,500 hours of which must have been as Pilot-in-Command.

All the exams will be waiwed.

Good Luck