Get back into flying

[Airmiles]

Hi There,

I know this is an American forum and so most if not all pilots are American, but I find American people overall very friendly and thus I have become a member here.

I need some advice. I have an FAA CPL as well as a JAA CPL. My dream has always been to be a pilot, and to be one in the US . Unfortunately 9/11 changed all that and back in 2001 when I started my flying in the US, all work visas including mine got stopped.

Anyway to cut a long story short I haven't had much luck with pilot jobs and I have tried other work, but my heart only lies with aviation. In the Summer I went to America and renewed my FAA CPL/IR and was trying hard to find a job there but without a work visa this is impossible. I have tried for the last 2 years to get a job in aviation even in the Operations department, but I just do not hear back on any of my letters. I seriously am starting to break and I just want to get some feedback on what I can do. I need to get back into flying and surround myself with pilots, but I don't know how. As I do not fly often I do not feel like a real pilot, but more a person who has a licence.

I feel I cannot talk to the few pilot friends I have as they seem to make me feel worse about my attempts to getting my foot in the door. I have tried lots of ways but none are working. Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

I hope to hear from somebody.

Kind regards to you all,
Airmiles

 

[dell30rb]

Any reason you can't find a pilot job somewhere outside the US? what about canada?

I have no idea how the system works but my basic understanding is that its easy for uneducated people to run across the border and find work, but we make things difficult for the professionals and higher educated to come here and work...
Should be the other way around if you ask me.

 

[poadeleted20]

What you'll need is a US company to sponsor you for a work visa. Quite a few flight schools have done that for flight instructors, but beyond that, I really don't know. You might try some of the pilot job web sites like FlightLevelJobs.com, and see if any of the folks listing jobs there are willing to do that for you. Also, those job listings there should give you an idea if your qualifications (education, experience, etc) make you competitive for such jobs, e.g., if you have only a CP-ASEL-IA and only 250 hours, there aren't many pilot jobs for which you'll qualify.

 

[Airmiles]

I have 800 hours total time, mainly SE hours I admit, but I have SE and ME land on my FAA licence. I also have a JAR CPL SE/ME/IR and MCC. I have some jet time too.

Thank you for the two responses. I approached some flight schools in the US but they were only able to give me an F1 visa thus not able to pay me.

 

[spiderweb]

I have 800 hours total time, mainly SE hours I admit, but I have SE and ME land on my FAA licence. I also have a JAR CPL SE/ME/IR and MCC. I have some jet time too.

Thank you for the two responses. I approached some flight schools in the US but they were only able to give me an F1 visa thus not able to pay me.

With an F-1 you can study, and you are allowed to do a limited amount of work. Don't forget about OPT after that, which allows and even requires 40 hours of work a week (practice and studying is included).