schuerleinb

Thank you for the advice guys, I greatly appreciate it

NEDude

Where do you want to live? Do you have a right to live and work in another country? Have you ever lived in another country?

Trojan65

Qantas , Australia , the land of overpaid layabout pilot

Two contracts Long Haul & Short Haul

LH fly the wides , salary of second officers on the A380 gets to $300K AUD ( $230K USD) Capts on $460K USD

Any wonder the SOs refuse to upgrade to FO on short haul

Luxuriant staff travel , footmen & bumboys thrown in to ensure your comfort at the workplace , oh & you don't exactly fly max hours either

Hiring 150/200 years for forseeable future after a nearly ten year hiatus

Most US pilots won't have the right to work/live in Aussie. Probably the fastest way to get that is if your partner is on the skilled immigration list , particularly medical (Doct , Nurse , Physio , Allied health , lots of details on immig.gov.au)

The QF boys try to talk it all down , but I can assure you that at QF it is always "party time".

Milksheikh

Australian pilots cashing in on Chinese demand | SBS News

According to this article it seems like tons of Aussies are still heading to China.. Those figures you posted are only for the most senior pilots at Qantas whereas if you went as a direct entry Capt to China you could be getting close to those numbers right off the bat. I'm curious how it works over there. It seems like Qantas is the number one choice for Aussies but in the meantime do they get some experience at home at a regional type operation, go to China to make some great money while they wait for Qantas to call? "Experienced pilots like Mr Folpp are being offered close to triple the salary to work in China's booming aviation industry." Seems like unless you are a super senior Qantas pilot, China still has the advantage from a purely monetary standpoint.

The Dominican

QF has many pilots on leave now and a few of them are working contract here and other places like China......., although QF is starting to recall now, things have been stagnant there for many years...., management has diverted all growth to Jetstar that has significantly lower T&C's....., it will take many years climbing up the seniority number to be at the top making those numbers......! The demand at QF is very limited and many pilots are choosing to work abroad rather than working for Jetstar.

I fly with several of those QF second officers and I can assure you that none of them describes the place as "party time" when there is no growth and the only movement is due to attrition...., 8 years as second officer before you can move to the right seat feels like everything but a party.......!

Kenny

Trojan,

You can't compare AU wages to US wages. Those QF pilots will be paying 50% tax, and living in a country where the cost of living is at least double the most expensive city in the US. The median house price is SYD is now AU$1.1 million and you'll be paying around AU$ 12k a month on a mortgage of that size.

My wife and I left Australia 2 years ago after 5 years of living in Sydney, in that time we paid AU$500k in taxes and rent and for most of that time the, AU$ and US$ were at parity.

Added to which, I'm not sure where you got those figures but mates of mine who are SO's on the 380 at QF tell me they earn around AU$200k.

Inasia4money

When you have 500 hours PIC on a medium or heavy jet you can go to China and make 25k/mo. This is the only country in the world to offer contracts where you can become a millionaire in 3-4 years! I’m three years into a four year contract and my bank account is in great shape! Working in China is not for everyone however, this is a VERY different culture, the FO’s you fly with are arrogant (smelly) robots, the food is nothing like the Chinese food in the US, pilots are routinely punished for the smallest mistakes (financial and public shaming type of punishment), you will have to get used to people spitting and smoking everywhere, kids poop on sidewalks and the list goes on. If you can cope with these things I’d say go for it!

ScarebusPusher

Those QANTAS figures are way off.

To answer the OP - I’d say over all, the US.

By the time you become eligible for the big money contract jobs on China, you’ll be making similar in the US. Ok, you have to pay taxes, but the China boom will only last so long.

I left the US when the industry was in the toilet. As such, over the last 8 years, I’ve made far more than I would have joining a regional and going that route. 2x,000 a year and 5 years minimum to upgrade and then join a major that was paying 40% less than they are today.

Nowadays, it’s not so simple. If you can get to a major by 30, you’ll make a whole stack of cash by the time you hit 65. That’s because you’ll likely have that job for life. The same can’t be said for the contract world.

stabapch

There’s really no way around the regionals initially. Try to get an ERJ type rating over the CRJ, as EJets are used all over the world. You can even go for one of the China gigs on the E190 after getting 500 PIC making well over 200 grand to start. You won’t find higher paying jobs outside of China. Initial pay for a lot of those offers are right around senior pay at one of the Big 3. If you’re open to cultural changes and willing to accept ALOT of responsibility it’s a good deal. You’ll be flying with fresh FO’s who most are good pilots but struggle thinking outside the box (they’ll follow the ‘magenta line’ straight into the side of a mountain) so expect it to be a one man crew. That being said you’re held accountable for every little mistake. I had a sim instructor that took this venture. The money they advertise is there, but the catch is you will docked money for every fault you or your FO makes. Long story short, in his words he only brought home less than half of what was offered.

B757200ER

100% accurate; very good advice. In contract flying, the carpet can be yanked from under you at any time----and the first thing to go if the economy turns down are expat pilots.