20 y/o from UK planning pilot career around eventually living in Australia
Posted by luisjamesnelson@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 26 comments
I’m 20 from the UK and planning to start my PPL in Spain soon. Long term I know for a fact I want to live in either Australia or America permanently, so I’m trying to figure out the smartest route from the beginning instead of doing everything twice.
Originally I was thinking:
- Do full EASA training in Europe
- Build hours/get into an airline
- Convert to CASA later
But the more I think about it, the more I feel like once you’ve built seniority at an airline and settled somewhere, you probably don’t want to move countries and restart.
So now I’m wondering whether it’s smarter to:
- Do PPL in Spain first
- Then move into CASA training relatively early
- Build my entire career in Australia from the beginning
The thing I’m trying to balance is:
- avoiding conversion costs later
- not losing seniority later
- but also not making early-career hour building/job hunting harder than it needs to be
For people who’ve actually done this:
- Would you still recommend EASA first?
- Or if Australia is the end goal no matter what, would you commit to CASA earlier?
- How hard is it realistically getting that first flying job in Australia as a low-hour pilot?
- If you could restart your career knowing you wanted Australia long term, what would you do differently?
Would appreciate honest opinions from people already in the industry.
Darkus185@reddit
I’m stuck with an EASA CPL and a UK passport. I’m going for Ryanair and if I don’t get that then I’m quitting aviation because there is no alternative.
Get your flying done in the UK if you love flying and then live somewhere else later in life. Don’t do it the wrong way around like I did and then be stuck without a career.
luisjamesnelson@reddit (OP)
Is Ryanair the only option for a uk passport?
Darkus185@reddit
Yes. No right to live or work in the EU so you can only fly Irish carriers who also have bases in the UK (and UK people can live and work in Ireland)
luisjamesnelson@reddit (OP)
I’ve heard you can get a 5 year work visa in Portugal then once you’ve worked there for 5 years you can apply for an eu passport?
Darkus185@reddit
Nobody is getting a work visa to fly planes (when there are more than enough EU passport holders around who can fly planes)
luisjamesnelson@reddit (OP)
Do you have an easa or caa license?
Darkus185@reddit
EASA
luisjamesnelson@reddit (OP)
I’ve heard people build their hours with an EASA license then once they have a significant amount, it makes the transfer to the CAA licence easier with fewer exams
Darkus185@reddit
I think once you unfreeze your ATPL at 1500 it’s significantly easier.
Puzzleheaded-Emu6338@reddit
Do you have the right to live and work in these countries should be your first question. If you don’t, unless you obtain that right, the answer would be an immediate no go(airlines will not sponsor you)
luisjamesnelson@reddit (OP)
Is getting a working visa in either of these countries realistic?
Necessary_Topic_1656@reddit
if Australians aren't able to find work in their own country, they're not going to allow someone like yourself from the UK to come look for work in Australia..
Maybe there is some thing about Australia being in the Commonwealth, but that's something you'll have to find out about.
luisjamesnelson@reddit (OP)
Would it be more realistic to move somewhere in Europe if I got an easa license? I just wanna get out of the Uk to be honest.
Puzzleheaded-Emu6338@reddit
Where are you from?
luisjamesnelson@reddit (OP)
From the UK
Puzzleheaded-Emu6338@reddit
That’s where you should plan to work. Getting the right to work in another country is extremely challenging unless you are already an experienced professional in another field.
Apprehensive_Cost937@reddit
Not unless you have an EU passport.
TooLowPullUp@reddit
Absolutely not. If you don't already have the unrestricted right to live and work in either country, then your plan is a total non-starter.
HardCorePawn@reddit
Honestly, you're putting the cart before the horse to a certain extent.
Your biggest issue at this point, is gaining the right to live and work in Australia. You need to get that pathway figured out before you worry about where you're going to do your training, which licence is better and how to get your licences and rating converted etc.
To get an idea of how hard it is to crack that first flying job in Australia as a low-hour pilot, you might want to go check out the AU/NZ section on PPRuNe: The Pacific: General Aviation & Questions - PPRuNe Forums
Spoiler alert: it's "Hard™"... and current world events are likely not going to help.
Necessary_Topic_1656@reddit
dunno, lots of Australian pilots have a hard time looking for work and are going outside of Australia to fly.
luisjamesnelson@reddit (OP)
Yeah I’ve heard the US is more generous to pilots. I just fear it would just be more difficult to obtain a working visa there
Puzzleheaded-Emu6338@reddit
Do you have the right to live and work in these countries should be your first question. If you don’t, unless you obtain that right, the answer would be an immediate no go(airlines will not sponsor you)
lordtema@reddit
It is nearly impossible. Australians have a special arrangement (for now) allowing them easier access
Brainfart92@reddit
You’re going to really struggle getting a pilot job somewhere you don’t have the right to live and work, especially early on in your pilot career. Companies are just not that willing to sponsor visas.
Apprehensive_Cost937@reddit
For your original plan, just be aware that if you can only work in the UK, then generally you'd want a UK licence. Having an EASA licence only, would limit you to either work for Ryanair or somewhere in the Republic of Ireland. It doesn't matter much for PPL, as any PPL from anywhere in the world will do (with some T&Cs attached), but for ATPL theory and CPL/ME/IR, do your research.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
I’m 20 from the UK and planning to start my PPL in Spain soon. Long term I know for a fact I want to live in either Australia or America permanently, so I’m trying to figure out the smartest route from the beginning instead of doing everything twice.
Originally I was thinking:
- Do full EASA training in Europe
- Build hours/get into an airline
- Convert to CASA later
But the more I think about it, the more I feel like once you’ve built seniority at an airline and settled somewhere, you probably don’t want to move countries and restart.
So now I’m wondering whether it’s smarter to:
- Do PPL in Spain first
- Then move into CASA training relatively early
- Build my entire career in Australia from the beginning
The thing I’m trying to balance is:
- avoiding conversion costs later
- not losing seniority later
- but also not making early-career hour building/job hunting harder than it needs to be
For people who’ve actually done this:
- Would you still recommend EASA first?
- Or if Australia is the end goal no matter what, would you commit to CASA earlier?
- How hard is it realistically getting that first flying job in Australia as a low-hour pilot?
- If you could restart your career knowing you wanted Australia long term, what would you do differently?
Would appreciate honest opinions from people already in the industry.
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