Need for pilots in the world

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Again these days, the need for pilots in the world has been heard again as a result of the Emirates airline having grounded planes due to a lack of pilots.. What is the reality? If I become a pilot, will I easily find work abroad in the face of so much need?? Here we will clarify several of these doubts.

I invite you to read the «Guide for the Aspiring Pilot«, to know the different «Pilot Schools in Ecuador» and the guide on how to «Get a job as a Pilot«.

post writer by: Captain Rudolph Star
FAA Commercial Pilot
Twitter: @rodo_estrella

Regrettably, although the news is true, This may lead us to think that the demand is very high, causing many young people to venture into a career for which there is immediate availability of work anywhere in the world.. And it also serves as a hook for aviation schools to attract students.

Are there jobs for pilots in America?

The truth is that although the demand for pilots is very high, this is due to several factors. Potentially the country where there is the greatest demand for pilots is the United States, this is because economically it is not an attractive career, a newly graduated pilot, in addition to paying for a short but extremely expensive career, must extend his learning period to complete the flight hours necessary for a job in regional airlines that is currently a job in that country 1500 flight hours, so if you do not have the financial capacity to pay for them on your own, you should opt for the option of being a flight instructor, flight instructor licenses incur an additional expense to the commercial pilot career.

It is well known that jobs in regional airlines in the United States offer quite low salaries compared to traditional careers, which with the high costs of living in that country cause that there is no interest in that career and more lucrative careers are preferred..

In the case of Latin America, it is often thought that a pilot can work anywhere in the world., in theory it is possible but in reality at least at the beginning of his career it is not, this mainly because of the immigration issue, airlines typically require that their candidates be citizens or have permission to work legally in the country where the company is located, which is often very difficult, For example, to work in the United States, a Green Card is required., or enjoy legal residence.

Unlike job opportunities in other careers, by federal law, airlines cannot serve as “sponsors” for legal residences of foreigners indefinitely or work for them only with work visas. However, there are currently schools that offer study programs for foreigners with the opportunity to work in regional airlines for a limited time., obviously these programs incur a high additional expense. That is why the pilot will often be limited to looking for work in his country at the beginning of his career..

Being a pilot in the Middle East and Asia?

Airlines from the Middle East or Asia offer job opportunities to foreigners with immigration papers, With juicy salaries and benefits, however, these positions are offered mostly to pilots and crews with a lot of experience in flight hours or with "type ratings" that is, the authorization to fly a particular type of aircraft and with experience required of more than 2000 hours upwards depending on the airline and type of plane. You will not find job offers from these large airlines for rookie pilots and recent graduates no matter how much need they have.

Another option, is to apply to the various pilot academies that large airlines, in the face of this need, are opening as are the well-known cases of American Airlines, Lufthansa, Emirate, JetBlue and others, but they still require citizenship, residency or be eligible for a student visa.

Yes, the world needs hundreds of thousands of pilots right now, but you need them trained and with thousands of hours of experience.

Things to keep in mind when looking for a job

Some time ago we talked about the requirements to be a pilot and many had concerns about English, although to be a pilot it is not necessary to know English, To get to fly in an airline, even locally, it is very necessary and having a high level is a requirement..

At the local level, job offers require an ICAO level of English as a requirement 4 Minimum, This certificate is obtained by taking a practical English exam where the grammatical or academic knowledge of the language is not valued, but the ability to understand aeronautical communications and situations where the transmitter is not necessarily a native speaker of the language will be valued.. In the exam, for example, you must face listening and understanding communications in English from people from countries where English is not spoken and therefore their accent is marked and a little more difficult to understand.. You must respond verbally to the situations presented where the spoken level will be evaluated. Unlike, for example, the TOEFL exam where the sample questions are spoken in English without accents., slow and easy to understand. ICAO level 4 required is a level above average. This exam has a cost and a validity period, at its end it must be renewed to have it updated at the time of a call for a job.

Additionally suppose that a student has just graduated from pilot school, the periods of time that must be waited for calls for vacancies of first officers also called co-pilots are usually long, limiting itself to 2 O 3 times a year or less depending on the country. You can not just wait indefinitely without incurring expenses, airlines require "recent experience" which typically refers to having completed training for a certain number of takeoffs and landings within the last 90 days before the call. As well as having the first class medical examination granted by the current aeronautical authority and which lasts 1 calendar year and has a cost for each renewal. (I have already spoken about the medical examination).

Theoretically with at least 250 flight hours (200 in some countries), a candidate can apply for a job call, However, airlines will always take into account personnel with much more experience and, by the way, not only aeronautics., today many pilots have training in many other areas, careers or specializations.

Now although the panorama does not seem very hopeful, Not everything is so bad, if you were lucky enough to land your first job in aviation and accumulate enough experience in a few years you can eventually find your way to overseas jobs where salaries and benefits are astronomical.

Being a pilot is not easy

In this being a pilot, getting there is the easy part, the hard part is “landing” on your first job, it may even take several years to get there, but the pilot's career is a matter of resistance and persistence. like i always said, "there is for everyone" as long as you have the perseverance to wait for your opportunity and not give up. This is not a career where you are going to become a millionaire and live a luxurious life at least for the first few years., first you will probably have to face many barriers, frustrations and sometimes needs.

If you do in this for money, it's the wrong career, If you want to be a pilot, it must be out of conviction and above all out of vocation and love of aviation., eventually after much effort it arrives but it's not quick or easy as the news makes it seem.

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