Hey all, I’ve read through the forum for the last day or so. My whole life I’ve wanted to become a pilot, but because of life circumstances it just never happened.
Now I’m 36 years old, and for the past few years I thought I’d gotten too old by this time but started to learn that 36 is by no means too old to get into the industry and advance pretty high (perhaps helped by the pilot shortage?).
Anyway, I also found out that I got diagnosed as pre-diabetic, which I intend to work on with a healthier diet and exercise and hopefully that’ll help things. I think I saw that diabetes could be a killer for an airline pilot’s career? I also intend to work on my weight (I’m 6’3" and around 260 last I checked; definitely want to bring that down). Currently I want to focus on my health and get that better then look into the possibility of joining a flight school. This is my first issue.
My second question is that me and my wife would like to move to Europe somewhere in 5-6 years and live there (she’s always wanted to do this and I would like to as well). I know that once someone joins a major airline the common wisdom is to stick it out because of seniority. Do you know if it’s common for European airlines to sponsor a visa? I know anything can change between now and then but I would want to think long about making a career move like this if it’s going to make it very difficult for my wife to live her dream.
I live in the Orlando area and I know there are a number of flight schools around here. ATP has a location at Orlando Executive and L3Harris has one at another local airport (these seem to be the closest to me, I’d like to avoid student housing to be able to spend time with my family). Anyone have experience with these locations? I know there’s a lot of folks who went to an ATP location, wasn’t sure if the experience is consistent across all locations or not.
I suppose I’m kind of trying to get my thoughts down and get some insight from pilots, maybe someone has gone through this?
I’m still certainly in the research phase of this, and haven’t made a decision to plunge into it so any insight would be greatly appreciated!
Welcome to the forum! We’re glad you’ve found it helpful so far. Especially realizing you’re not too old! That’s the number one question we get here.
Okay let’s get to your questions: if you want to live abroad that could be difficult while being an airline pilot. If you’re planning on primarily living in the states you would want to do your training here and get all FAA certificates. There are a few international bases for American based companies but that’s the needle in the haystack plan. United has a pilot base in Guam. FedEx has Cologne, Germany and Hong Kong, China. UPS has Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Cologne Bonn, Germany, East Midlands, England and Hamilton, Canada. These three carriers are the pinnacle of an aviation career. Just getting hired by one is a major accomplishment. Then trying to get one of those bases is subject to seniority, which you won’t have for a while. It’s possible, but will be difficult.
If you decide to live abroad permanently you should do your flight training in the country you plan to reside. The conversion process is difficult and lengthy.
As for ATP locations, no matter which you chose the curriculum and timeline is exactly the same. Just pick the one that is most convenient!
Thanks for the reply! Good information about European regulations, I don’t know why that slipped my mind but it makes sense. I have some thinking to do!
Hannah answered your concerns well. I’d just like to add that no, the European carriers will not sponser you and my understanding is it’s very difficult to get a work visa for the EU.
A few years back there was a UK carrier recruiting in the beginning of the pilot shortage. They were looking for experienced, type rated pilots and things had taken a downturn at my airline and I had gotten downgraded from Capt. The airline actually tried to get a few of us work visas and they were completely shot down.
If you want to fly in Europe not only should you train their but you’ll also need to gain some resident status.
Thanks for the additional insight! I really appreciate it, at times when I’ve been researching about this stuff I’ve been seeing conflicting information so hearing people who have actually been through it is super helpful!