Canadian Pilots Sponsored for US Airlines

[Scudrunner]

And So it begins, I didn't think this would ever happen but here we are....

https://pilotsdb.brookfieldav.com/job/0 ... work-in-US?

[Nark]

Ha,
Good luck Frontier getting a competitive CBA.

Good riddance from that merger.

[Scudrunner]

Is that who it’s for? I wonder how many other airlines will follow suite.

[Colonel]

For Canadians and Mexicans under NAFTA then USMC

The normal path is TN -> H1B -> LPR -> citizenship

That process can take many years. If you can do it in under 10 years you are doing very well indeed.

Pilots are not eligible for TN which is easy and fast and can be renewed indefinitely. I heard about a guy who’s been here for decades doing that.

H1B is now very hard to get. Takes years of retrying the lottery they hold every year.

LPR is based on country of birth. Some lines are very long indeed. I think India is approaching the 100 year mark for their priority dates.

After LPR and 5 years of residency you can apply for citizenship.

I suspect an airline would use some other temporary visa which like the TN does not lead to permanent residency or citizenship.

L1 is particularly popular with Europeans. You must work for one year for a foreign subsidiary. Equivalent to an H1B. Better, actually.

Remember that until LPR you cannot change company or legally even your role within the company without reapplying. For example if an engineer is promoted to manager, he must reapply.

A friend of mine got static from CBP for that. He was an engineer but was promoted to second level manager but that wasn’t allowed on his TN visa and it took him years to win the H1B lottery.

[Slick Goodlin]

I didn’t think sponsorship was required as of this past February. Is it not under National Interest Waiver now?

[Nark]

Not to throw stones from my glass house while poking fun at Frontier, but our airline has been hiring Aussies using their special visa privileges.

Latest email from the membership commitee states that we’ve hired 550 and 302 (of the total pilot group) have left. Not great when you’re trying to expand.

A few of the regionals down here now pay more during the first year than we do.
The American owned carriers pay almost as much as the mainline. Checkairmen are in the $400/hr range.
It’s funny, their new pay scales seem to have solved their retention issues almost immediately.

[Colonel]

Aussies using their special visa privileges

Many Aussies here. I understand they have something similar to NAFTA?

It’s funny, their new pay scales seem to have solved their retention issues almost immediately.

It's amazing that we don't really have a pilot shortage. We just have a shortage of qualified pilots who want to earn less than what MacDonald's pays.

Pilots in Canada lost out big time when their occupation was not added to the recently re-negotiated USMCA, which oddly Canadian pilots were completely disinterested in.

[Nark]

I love flying the bus. It’s not making me a better pilot, it’s giving me an avenue to utilize my toys. Which is making me a better pilot.


My worth is set by the collective of my fellow pilots. I’d love to make $450+/hr but that’s unrealistic to expect.

It’s only a matter of time when I’ll be sharing the cockpit with a guy who can recall when Canada took gold in Salt Lake City is 2002, then again in 2010.

[Colonel]

I’d love to make $450+/hr

Based on 1000 hrs/yr or 2000 hrs/yr?

The former is pretty doable, the latter will perhaps take a bit of effort.

We’re talking before tax, right?

American Airlines said this

According to Isom, the captain of a Boeing 737 at the top of the proposed pay scale would earn a base salary of about $340,000 a year by the end of 2024.

Senior captains of bigger planes, such as Boeing 777s, would earn about $425,000 a year.

Best to reside in a state with no income tax of course.

Like I said, get an FAA ATP and a 737 type rating.

[Nark]

I looked at moving to Florida, (no state income tax). Cost of living is higher in all tangible ways: car, home insurance.

Also, fire ants. Wife stepped outside the plane at Sun n Fun, right on top of a fire ant pile.

Sealed the deal to live in Wisconsin for the rest of the days.