I am new on this website but wanted to get input from professionals.
I am currently a journalist for a major network but I am strongly considering a career change.
Aviation has always been my passion and I even have 100+ hours experience when I flew many years ago during my college years.
My question is the following:
I have dual citizenship (born in Mexico)
Is it a good option to get my commercial license and immediately apply to an airline in Mexico?
They only require about 250 hours.
That way I can build my hours to 1500 through that route instead of CFI in the USA.
What do you think about this plan?
Do you know of others that have done this in their respective countries?
That depends on the flying. Unfortunately people view the 1500hrs as simply a box to check. It’s not. It’s so you build experience before flying hundreds of passengers. Flight instructing is a great way to hone those skills. If you’ll actually be doing some flying (not just slinging gear but shooting approaches etc) that’s fine, but if not you’re not doing yourself any favors.
While it’s true there’s a huge pilot shortage and people are getting hired in record numbers, it’s also true newhire failure rates are through the roof. The primary reason is many pilots are looking for short cuts to build their time fast but when they show up for newhire training (which is VERY challenging) they can’t keep up.
I am with Adam here, it depends on the kind of flying you will be doing. Just make sure that you are actually flying and not just talking on the radios. I have no idea what the quality of flying is in Mexico or what roles new hire pilots fulfill down there. It would be worth doing some research and finding out.
Great answers both of you.
Have you heard of any pilots in US airlines that have gone this route and flown in their respective countries before returning to fly in USA?
Yes, I know a pilot that went and flew for COPA for a few years, then returned to the US. Just realize that with 1,500 hours, you will probably still be looking at applying for the regionals or the national airlines like JetBlue.