Hello fellow pilots.I’m George 25,Swedish and i am now married over a year with a U.S. citizen.Me and my wife are planning moving to the U.S. in the year coming.I have about 3000 hours on the 737.And 800 of them in the left seat flying for one of the two well known low costs here in Europe.I have a bachelors four year degree in Mechanics on an American University here in Stockholm.What are my chances of getting hired to one of the big three skipping the regional part?By the time we leave I’ll have about 3,500 on the 737 1,200 as a captain.
Thank you in Advance,George.
George,
I think that your chances of skipping the regionals are excellent. Just keep in mind that you will need to be either a US citizen, or US permanent legal resident to be eligible to be hired by the airlines.
Chris
I know I’m married with a U.S. citizen for 1,5 yerars now.I’ll have my green card in about three months as i was told,but i know that things like that take time so I’m just waiting.Thanks for the answer.Finally someone who seems to know for real.Some people told me that i need 5.000 hours minimum and i was like whattttt???I mean it is still the land of oportunity ;).Do you know which of the three are more likely to need pilots the upcoming year ?
George
George,
I don’t want to rain on your parade, but I don’t necessarily agree with Chris on this one. The BIG 3 are flooded with apps daily from Regional CAs with 5,000 plus hours and a stack of internal recommendations (you also don’t mention if you’ve done your conversion to an FAA ATP?). While I think you definitely have a shot, I wouldn’t say your chances are excellent. My concern is you come here, get your green card, get your ATP but if you don’t get hired right away then what? Next thing you know you lose currency and that’s never good. If I were you I would definitely apply to the Majors right away but you might also want to jump into a Regional if they don’t bite.
Adam
George,
My apologies in that I missed that you only have 3,000 hours total time. Adam is right here, you will need more total time to get hired on at the majors.
Chris
I started reading for my conversion about a week ago and im gonna go on with the presedure which is a little expensive but its worth the risk.I will have the regionals as the easier way to get in assuming the pilot sortage and my experience.My consern is the money.Cause here i make about 440.000 SEK(55.000$) and i dont want to take a step back in my financing with the regionals.Although i assume that the regional will be just about a year or so to reach 5.000 and regarding i already have a Type rating and 3.500 hours on the 737,i will have a better chance that others.Do you agree with that statement or no?
Thanks for helping,
George
George,
Take a look at an article in my “Flying The Line” section called “What Do Pilots Really Earn”, it will help answer your questions about pilot pay.
Chris
George,
Put yourself as a guy on a hiring panel. You have a pilot from Europe with 3500hrs on a 737 which is nice vs someone with 5-7000hrs in an Embraer who’s been flying for a Regional partner for the last 5yrs operating within your airlines system. He knows and has flown the routes and is already a card carrying union member paying dues. The local pilot also has Letters of Recommendation from his airlines Chief Pilot and his uncle and his friends who are already working for the airline. It doesn’t give you that clear an advantage.
Listen, I’m not saying you won’t get hired but I wouldn’t be getting my Delta tattoo just yet.
Adam
Adam,
I see your point.And after a lot of research i kind of made my mind.I see that getting into the majors in the U.S. is hard cause of the lack of pilots in the Regional counterparts.So I’ll apply for all the regionals by the time i have my green card sent.Its most likely ill get a job in a regional.I’ll stay in the regional for 1or 2 years,build some more experience and then apply for a major when i have 6000 and i’ll have my chances.I also im almost fluent in french and german+swedish and English so i think im qualified enough, although i know american pilots are more into aviation and there will be sure far more qualified individuals.Tatoo??Don’t tell me anything about tatoos i had an angel wing tattoo on my left wrist cause when you are young you make mistakes…At my job interview they where like,you are qualified enough but i wouldn’t consider that tattoo profesional even if covered-“classic british-Irish formal attitude” and I got it removed…Painfulllllll.Delta? Im more into AA but i dont know yet which of the three is best though 
In your opionion guys who of the three do you think is the best for a pilot to work in and which is the more popular among passengers?..I always thought AA is the biggest,most popular,with the most history but a lot of americans have said that they prefer Delta…
Thank you guys for your answers,George
George,
Your new plan has a far better chance success, but you cannot count on it being two years at the regionals, it might be more, it might be less. While your foreign language skills are interesting, they will not matter at all when applying to a US airline.
Honestly, I think that all of the major US airlines are great to work for. At this point we all have rather mature contracts and the pay is back up to where it should be. If I didn’t have a job, I would be happy if any one of the majors hired me.
Chris
George,
I think you still be misunderstanding what I’m saying? If you meet the min requirements by all means apply to the Major (or Majors) of your choice. You could get lucky? The guy screening the apps could be European and wants to help out one of his brethren or any of a thousand other reasons. All I’m saying is to hedge your bets. A Regional will grab you no question so you’ve got that in your pocket. The point is to never stop flying, never put all your eggs in one basket, and ALWAYS have a backup plan but you should definitely apply. It costs nothing and you never know.
As for the Big 3 as Chris said they’re all solid choices. What often sets them apart is the corporate cultures or just the “feel” of one carrier vs another. If you dig AA then go for AA. There is no right answer or wrong choice.
Adam
I’ve come a far way all these years for this.I was studing for my bachellor and flight school at the same time which was a little bit hard, at least that i made my desicion with my wife to move to the states easier cause major U.S. airlines and no degree is a No-No.Anyway back home today after long day(Stockholm-Stansted London,Stasted-Orly(paris),Orly-Stasted,Stasted-Venizelos athens ,Venizelos-Zurich int,Zurich int-Stasted,Stanted,arlanda stockholm.Life as a low cost pilot is not that good guys,lots of delays and sh*t.
Thank you guys very much and i hope i will see you in a couple of years next to you in the right hand seat for one of the majors.
Sinserely,
George
Look into southwest as well !
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Can I be hired by a major airline as a pilot without a degree but higher than average amounts of flying experience?
Aweys,
You just asked this identical question in another thread. The answer is no, it would be almost impossible.
If you could come and work in Europe you could find a job without a degree in almost any airline,but you need to speak the country’s language so if you come to the U.K. you could.In the U.S. its not a necessity on the requirements for application but i got all the major applications yesterday and they all have a box to tick that says 4 YEAR BACHELORS DEGREE.If you cant tick the box dont even apply cause i spoke to a lot of american pilots and all of them have degrees.Thats cause airlines believe in order to paid 200.000 per year in some time in your life you should be an well educated person among other things like interacting with passegers etc.Its totally right if you think about it and Europeans have to establish it too.
Actually it’s $300,000 now, but what’s a $100k between friends?
Adam
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300,000? I will buy a house, save up for my future kids and retirement and then when i start making that amount of money I’ll buy a Ferrari, PERIOD.Dont care if i am 45 or something,ill buy a beautiful red ferrari 
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Would a 2 year degree be fine to get into the majors?
Evan,
No. You will need a four year degree for the majors.
Chris