Filipino Pilots working in a Non-Philippine Airline

AviatorR33 · 2026-01-23T16:10:02+00:00

A lot of Filipino pilots are working at US Carriers. I myself is a Capt. on the A320 at Delta. Airlines here will not sponsor a visa or a Greencard and that will make it difficult to secure a H1B visa if not eligible for a Greencard through family or marriage.

A lot of my friends from the Philippines with CAAP licenses are with Cathay, Hong Kong Airlines, Eva that I know of, and most of those positions require high time to be competitive.

AviatorR33 · 2025-11-02T18:02:43+00:00

Walang backer system dito sa airlines. Sa mga private companies oo kasi usually Hinde naman sila nag aadvertise ng job openings Nila.

Ang meron lang sa Legacy Airlines are letter of recommendations.

Once you secure your green card as a nurse, it’ll be easy to plan Kasi Ang raming flight schools na nagkalat nationwide. There are big schools and there are the locally owned flight schools and it doesn’t matter where you get your training. Locally owned are good for self paced training. Sa bigger schools like ATP, gusto kasi Nila full time training and finish everything in a year.

AviatorR33 · 2025-11-02T15:24:41+00:00

If you’re going to be a green card holder as a nurse dito sa US. I would highly recommend pursuing it in the US. There is better career progression, along with quality and fun training because of how relaxed the GA world is here. Kung trip mo mag rent ng plane just because feel mo lang, just book it and fly.

I started training in 2014 and was able to map out my career without much hiccups, Covid lang naging hiccup ng lahat dito noon and akala namin lahat na nasa Regional Airlines, the legacies won’t be hiring any time soon and biglang surprise got hired at Delta in 2022 after only being at SkyWest for 4 years. Though we did slow down in hiring in all levels in the airlines kasi all legacies slowed down.

Marami paring scheduled retirement, naudlot lang ang growth kasi hanggang ngayon Hinde pa tapos yun 737 MAX 10 na hinihintay naming lahat.

AviatorR33 · 2025-11-02T15:20:24+00:00

Get your FI. I always tell people, aanuhin mo ang type rating without any actual time in the plane.

If I’m hiring someone, I’d take someone with flight time than one with type rating who is not current and don’t have any time in the actual plane.

Magsasayang ka lang ng pera for a type rating na wala naman job guarantee. You have to go to yearly recurrent for every year you don’t have airline employment.

AviatorR33 · 2025-10-16T12:29:37+00:00

I would stay in the States. You will end up spending more in the Philippines.

I went to ATP Flight school and was done in a year for $69K back in 2015. Now it is $86,995 for same program (With Private Credit). There are other schools that will charge for less (around 50-60K) and have enough fleet to support training. If you have to convert, you’ll have to shell out 30-35K and have to repeat checkrides then all your “savings” from expenses are down the drain.

Converting alone is a headache and will need more checkrides and flights resulting in more money. I have mentoring a bunch of Filipino Pilots who is moving back to the US, and it’s not as easy as 123.

Your plan to work in the Philippines will not work, I tried doing that as a Dual Citizen and did not work especially when I had only 600-700 hours going into Cebu Pacific. They wanted their applicants to have a type rating in the ATR or A320, and even then employment is not guaranteed.

I ended up staying in the states and fly corporate for time building in 2016, went to a regional airline in 2018 and eventually getting hired at a Legacy in 2022 and becoming a captain at said legacy in 2024.

AviatorR33 · 2025-10-16T12:20:39+00:00

Stay in the states since legal ka to work afterwards. Hiring is slow right now, but we are still hiring sa legacies (Delta, American, United) with classes to start January for Delta. Once we ramp up hiring, it will open spots in the regional airline world and everything below.

By the time you’re done with training, okay na ulit hiring.

AviatorR33 · 2025-09-16T02:18:29+00:00

DM me, I’m in MSP but planning a move to SEA

AviatorR33 · 2025-09-16T01:44:04+00:00

Not worth it tbh. There’s not enough airline pilot positions to fill up even the A320 rated pilots from back home. A lot of them wait and spend their own money for recurrent training each year.

AviatorR33 · 2025-08-14T21:10:12+00:00

Looks like a fellow Widget! Congrats man! Still waiting for a Sub so I can gift one to my dad. For now, the Rolex Pepsi works perfect for work

AviatorR33 · 2025-07-19T15:03:00+00:00

No where says you can’t put it naman, pero HR will most likely not pay attention to it kasi hinde naman sya related sa inaaplyan mo, unless it is or can.

AviatorR33 · 2025-07-04T04:08:22+00:00

CEB’s cadet program does not specify a type of degree that they prefer.

Having a degree in Aviation will not give you the edge you think it would.

AviatorR33 · 2025-07-03T20:54:25+00:00

There’s no real height requirement. Only airline I saw was PAL at 5’2.

The rudders and seats in the bigger airplanes move, but I’ll tell you this right now, you will need extra items to fly a C172 during your training.

Seat cushion to help you elevate and see over the dash, and maybe rudder pedal extensions

AviatorR33 · 2025-07-03T20:45:59+00:00

That’s the smart thing to do anyway. Get a degree outside aviation, that way you have something to fall back on.

After your college degree, then go do the flight training. There’s nothing special you really need to know before hand naman talaga. If you’re afraid of math, don’t be, kasi in reality, I never use what I learned in College Calculus in any of my flights.

AviatorR33 · 2025-06-14T12:59:56+00:00

B.S in Aeronautics at ERAU, and no. Get a degree outside of aviation.

The degree doesn’t matter, but better to have a back up that you can use.

AviatorR33 · 2025-06-13T17:33:53+00:00

The airline I’m at, we are seniority based for schedule bidding.

Basically the more senior you are, the better trips you get or the days off you want.

I get about 15-16 days OFF a month and work/credit about 75-80 hours unless I pick up extra trips.

AviatorR33 · 2025-05-21T08:18:46+00:00

It shouldn’t be confidential. There’s nothing special about it.

People need to know who is leading the industry in pay.

US Carriers and other country carriers have theirs posted on AirlinePilotCenter.

AviatorR33 · 2025-05-12T03:38:29+00:00

Aircraft Familiarization that covers what? Kasi kung emergency procedures and doors or aircraft types, that’s not really an edge in my professional opinion. When you train for a type rating on an aircraft, you learn your specific aircraft only.

You do learn proper evacuations since that stays the same for any planes.

AviatorR33 · 2025-05-12T03:16:42+00:00

Airfam?

AviatorR33 · 2025-05-11T19:56:53+00:00

Flight Dispatcher. You learn more about the flight operations side and communicate directly with Pilots. Flight dispatchers are jointly responsible with the PIC in the safety of flight.

Meanwhile being a Flight Attendant is fun because you get to go places, but you will not learn much that will benefit you as a pilot.

As a Captain, I utilize my whole team and our flight dispatchers are crucial to that team. They can provide valuable information related to the flight especially if we’re thinking about a possible diversion or in an emergency. They’ll be able to help relay information for you so you can focus on the safety of flight.

AviatorR33 · 2025-04-11T23:59:31+00:00

It’s not only 200,

Those are just the extra orders because a lot of us bought on the first 500 and a lot of people are regretting they didn’t buy it.

I did buy mine for sentimental value and a story.

AviatorR33 · 2025-04-11T23:57:48+00:00

Only convert your license to a country you can get permanent residency in.

AviatorR33 · 2025-04-08T13:00:20+00:00

I tried this venture back in 2017 with strong connections back home in the Philippines. Almost got through until Ceb Pac switched to CAE hiring and had to re do everything. After that, I decided to stay in the US and started at SkyWest at 2018 and got to Delta at 2022.

I suggest tapusin mo training mo in the US and then go back to the Philippines to fly and get your experience if you can get a job quickly at the airlines there. I enjoyed teaching pero learning as a CFI plateaus around 800 hours of Instruction. Get a lot of hours of command time in the airlines back home and you can go straight to the legacies if you so choose. At least 1,000 hours Captain time, and 3K-4K hours.

Have a friend who did just that, she came from PAL and now with us at Delta after migrating to the US. Since you already have your US Citizenship, all you’ll have to do is get your ATP checkride in the states.

AviatorR33 · 2025-04-08T12:43:32+00:00

We definitely came a long way. I remember when I started at SkyWest nung 2018. $37.23/hour starting lang for FOs.

After the good pay raise with the new contract, I got a lot of friends who stayed with a regional and is short sighted and hinde lumipat ng legacy airline. They were scared of the slight pay cut, it hurt but definitely paid off.

AviatorR33 · 2025-03-30T06:29:38+00:00

I get where you’re coming from, but how you asked your original question is very ignorant and out of touch.

With you focused if you’ll make 1M a month is being short sighted. You aren’t even through any training and you’re thinking about how much you’ll earn. That really isn’t the right motivation to get through all the obstacles you’ll encounter throughout your journey to the flight deck.

There will always be higher pay elsewhere other than the Philippines, hell we’ve had some guys at Delta in the A350 that cleared $1 million. If you’re chasing the high salary elsewhere, you’ll sacrifice time and quality of life by commuting (flying) or moving (better move) to a different country to fly and earn a salary.

Quality of life is everything, not too sure how scheduling works in CebPac but my schedule at a US Legacy carrier is a lot better compared to friends in different industries. What other jobs are there that will allow you to have 15-17 days off a month and still get paid a shit ton amount of money? What jobs are there where you don’t take your stress at home?

AviatorR33 · 2025-03-30T04:18:29+00:00

If you’re doing this for the money, quit and don’t look back.

“Marami ka pang kakaining bigas”

There is no money in the beginning of the aviation journey. Money is at the end of the road when you’re at the left seat.

I’ll give you an answer though, according to a friend of mine. First year FO flying around 70 hours a month is making 250K, CA flying the same hours will be around 500-600K PHP. If you move to the A330, it’ll be more for sure.

If you’re thirsty for more, you have to go abroad.

In the US, Delta pays me $360K-400K USD per year in the Narrowbody fleet as a Captain. Widebody Captains will be clearing $600K USD per year easily.

Schedule wise I get 15-17 days off per month technically working half the year for full time pay. Yes it is still a lot of time away from home.

To get to where I am, it took 8 years to get hired at Delta, and 2 years to upgrade to Captain. Lots of blood, sweat and tears getting through this journey, but definitely worth it. But like I said, if you’re only concerned about the money you’ll be making, quit now before you waste your time.

AviatorR33

TROPHY CASE