Visa, travel, accommodation (during training), ATP exam, multi-crew training and type rating are all taken care of by the airline. All you need is a bit of common sense, flexibility to learn new rules, and to keep your idealistic socialist ideas to yourself. They're also more than happy to hire pilots up to age 60 or so (the maximum age to hold an ATP is 65).
What are the minimum experience requirements?
In most cases you may apply a few months before you meet the requirements, and if you are accepted, let the airline know when you are ready. The exact entry requirements will vary from airline to airline, but below are the most common figures:
Holding point in Chicago
The HR questions are pretty standard airline interview questions:
Tell me about yourself
What do you know about XYZ Airlines?
Why do you want to work for XYZ Airlines?
What do you think you can contribute to XYZ Airlines?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Do you know what CRM is?
Tell me about a time you had a conflict with a coworker and how did you handle it?
etc.
The more technical questions asked by the captain would follow this style:
I've just emailed you an ILS chart for Asheville NC. Take a couple of minutes to look at it and then we'll discuss it.
What is the highest obstacle on the chart?
How would you fly this approach from Sugarloaf Mt?
What does NoPT mean?
You've just gone past the ILS IAF and Tower advises visibility has dropped below minima. What do you do?
Your only lavatory is unserviceable for a 1.5 hour charter flight from Las Vegas to San Francisco. What do you think are the considerations and would you depart?
As you are doing the aircraft acceptance checklist before the preflight inspection you have reason to suspect the Captain has had alcohol. He also looks fatigued. What would you do?
etc.
It's a good idea to download an American "IFR cheat sheet" and start getting your head around how things work over there in regards to instrument approaches, planning alternates, etc.
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I've applied for the visa, now what?
The clock is ticking. Don't waste any time, start applying for things and getting documents verified. As an Australian, you're in for a culture shock when you see how few things you can apply for via online form. At the very best, you're looking at printing, filling, and scanning forms, then emailing them and hoping someone will get back to you.
Things you can do right now:
Start the foreign licence verification process with CASA and FAA (check IACRA)
Things you should do on day 1 when you arrive in USA:
AFSP (Alien Flight Student Program) request, online. Your school will need to provide details for this. The time frame varies, but can tipically take 3-4 weeks to be approved. You cannot start training without this.
Once that's all done you could be sitting in your hotel room for about a month:
Study for your ATP exam. Your airline will most likely sign you up for an account with a company called Sheppard Air, who basically provide you with a database of thousands of questions and answers. An interesting way to study to say the least.
In summary, how long it takes to start training after arriving in the country will depend on a combination of people's incompetence (at the airline, social security office, immigration, etc) and your luck of the draw. It could be anywhere from 1 week to 6 weeks.
What's training like?
Hopefully your training will be efficient. Since there are 4 different components to it, it may not be scheduled efficiently and in the worst case scenario you can end up with 6 months of training.
ATP-CTP course (similar to the MCC course in Australia) you'll most likely be sent to Dallas for about 8 days. The course will consist of 4 days of classroom talking about CRM and 3 days of full motion sim (could be any multi-crew jet, such as for example a full motion A320). Did I say "days"? Your sims will most likely be 4 hour slots in the middle of the night. On the last day, you will sit your ATP exam that you've been studying for the past month. The ATP exam actually has nothing to do with the ATP-CTP course, but since the ATP-CTP course is a pre-requisite to sit the ATP exam, it's an efficient pairing so you can hit the ground running at your new airline.
E175 at Houston Bush Intercontinental
Before starting your line training, the airline will give you a few days to do some jump-seating. They will expect you to jump-seat a certain number of sectors (eg. 5 sectors) before your line training starts. You'll be wearing your uniform and will legally be part of the operating crew (ie. if there were to be an emergency you would be expected to offer support).
Line Training After successful completion of your type rating, you'll be assigned a line training roster. You'll be assigned trips just like a real airline pilot, only difference being you'll be assigned "training captains" instead of regular captains. A normal amount of line training is hard to quantify (it's competency based), but think along the lines of 25 to 75 hours. Once your training captain passes your "line check" you'll be a fully qualified first officer.
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What is life like as a regional pilot?
E175 on approach to Memphis
Living in a hotel has its perks. Mostly the hotels are actually nicer than you'd think. Free buffet breakfast, getting your bed made and bathroom cleaned, etc. But not having a car is hard, and living off ready meals and uber eats takes its toll on your health, your happiness, and your wallet.
During the first few months of work you will not be assigned a flying roster but rather a standby (reserve) roster. You won't know if you'll be flying, where you'll be flying, and where you'll be overnighting, until hours before departure. And often you won't be doing much flying at all, with the impact that has on your wallet and your career progression. You could be on reserve for six months or more, which is awful, until your seniority number (at your domicile and for your fleet type) qualifies to bid for a schedule.
The USA is a pretty "interesting" country. Enjoy it while you get some experience, travel like crazy, and get out of there. But that was just my very personal impression of a country I would not like to live in for more than a couple of years - many people love it there and stay.
Can I expect progression onto the ‘majors’?
After spending only a year or two in the regionals, you can currently apply for Spirit/Frontier to fly an A320 or for Atlas Air to fly a wide-body B767, B777, or B747.
Without U.S. residency, which is difficult to attain, you are currently unlikely to have a chance with the major airlines (American, Delta, United, Southwest). Having said that, with the pilot shortage deepening further, green cards are likely to be an option for pilots in the near future.
How does the cost of life in the U.S. compare to Australia?
My advice is to never try to convert USD into AUD and vice-versa. Just take a Dollar to be a Dollar. If you're used to paying A$4.50 for a coffee in Australia, it will cost U$4.50 in the U.S. also . A salary of $50k will give you a similar life style in both countries, considering that groceries will be very slightly cheaper and rent will possibly be slightly more. The price of rent and purchase of a car will of course vary greatly from city to city, so take the cost of living into consideration when picking a domicile, as the salary will not vary.
Anything else I should know?
If you move to USA be ready for a change of paradigm and a culture shock bigger than what you are possibly expecting. I won't go into their tipping culture (and how the minimum wage is $2.13ph - by contrast in Australia it's $20.33ph), but here are a couple of important things to consider when you arrive:
this.
Credit score: In Australia your credit rating would be highest if you had a full time job, maybe some assets, and no debts. That actually makes perfect sense. In USA, if you don't have debt, you don't have a credit rating. So teenagers are forced to start using credit cards at an early age if they want to be able to ask for a car or home loan later in life. No credit card history, no loan. Your credit rating will also be important to rent an apartment/house. If you have a credit card with a big limit (ie debt) it shows you're very trustworthy... So on day 3 in USA (after visiting the social security office and the DAME) open a bank account and also get yourself a secured credit card. You give the bank a $500 security deposit, and they give you a credit card with a $500 limit. Once you've been a good boy/girl for about 6 months you'll be allowed a grown-up card if you ask nicely, and now you're starting to build a good credit score. So start early! To learn more watch this and this.
I'm still thinking about it. Should I do it?
You'll regret it if you don't.
This article was written by David Roses and last updated in 2022. This content is not sponsored by any interested parties.
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American regionals are desperate for pilots, and they are unable to hire the number of pilots they need, leading to schedule reductions and flight cancellations by the thousands every week. They even have "referral bonuses" so that if you help them recruit new pilots they'll give you cash.
GoJet
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