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Flight School in EU or US as US citizen living in EU

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Flight School in EU or US as US citizen living in EU

Old 13th Jan 2020, 16:17
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Flight School in EU or US as US citizen living in EU

Been an avid reader for a while now and finally decided to register and I had a couple of questions.

I am 36 year old US citizen living in Finland as a permanent resident as my wife is Finnish. I would like to begin the long grind of becoming a commercial pilot but prices here in Finland are astronomical (25k for PPL)

Would it be wiser to go to a school in US and convert to EASA later? Leave Finland and go integrated in a cheaper country in the EU? Are permanent residents considered to have the right to work in EU? Go modular and to distance learning for my studies?
I am nearing the wrong side of 30 and would like to make the most logical decision here. Thanks for any input or advice and sorry for the long post.
Lalli is offline  
Old 14th Jan 2020, 15:50
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Read this thread and the advice given by the member rudestuff. It's about training both in the US and EU. You can complete the training with a cost up to 40-41k. And since you're a US citizen, you won't have to search for schools that are approved to train foreign students (SEVP) - which tend to be more expensive. Poland, Czech republic, Hungary are also an option if you're looking for cheap training.

I think holding permanent residency for Finland does not give you the right to work in other EU countries but only in the issuing country. I assume that you can work on acquiring the Finnish citizenship which will then open doors in the rest of the European countries. Modular and distance learning is the way to go if you're on a budget.

But IMO, given that you have the right to work in the US, If I were you I would consider going back there. Better job market, salaries etc.
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Old 14th Jan 2020, 16:47
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In my personal experience, you will save time and money by choosing one or the other. Either EASA or FAA. So the question should be do you want to work and live in the US or in Finland/EU.

Firstly you need to check if you have the eligibility to work throughout the EU, if not you need to check if there is any job market in Finland alone, keeping in mind that you will not have very much experience to offer before your first job. If you can only work in Finland your job opportunities will be very limited I imagine. But check out Finnair and smaller operators requirements.

If you are willing to relocate to the US and work there, then it would be the better option as you have a much larger job market to choose from (because of your citizenship), and you would likely find a job. The market in the US is diverse and large, there is so much flying going on from GA to Airlines.

If your only choice is to stay in Finland because of your family life and you are determined to do an EASA licence: DO NOT go to the states for any training. I've done it, and you will spend much more and it is complicated to deal with the conversion. Ther is no conversion basically, you will be doing your licences twice. Unless you find an EASA school in the US, but they will be charging more than the average school because they are somewhat unique in the US.

Your best bet is to find a school in Central or Eastern Europe, the price will literally be 50 percent of what you pay in Western Europe or the US. And the over all outcome will be the same, you will have an EASA licence and be qualified to apply for the same job that someone who spent double the money you did. Not to mention the living costs in Poland v the US. I know people who went to a school called Bartollini in Poland (probably a lot of posts on this website about it), they had their CPL in just over a year and are now flying for a major low cost carrier.

Many will say that these schools arent as good, as ones in western europe. That is simply not the case, Poland for example has a long established aviation culture and some of the best pilots and instructors i've flown with were Polish. One of the main reasons Bartollini is much cheaper is because they use smaller, less powered aircrfat which use much cheaper fuel than the more traditional training aircrafts such as Cessnas etc. So the aircraft is underpowered, has a useless range, but for training and getting your licence, they tick all the boxes.

It really depends what you want. Go to your local flight school and get up for a flight, chat to the instructor there, get a taste for whats going on in Finnish aviation.

pedrothepilot is offline  
Old 14th Jan 2020, 19:05
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Maybe a good option would be to kill "two birds with one stone" so to speak - why not train in the USA at an EASA approved school (there are a few left) and obtain BOTH EASA and FAA licenses for about the same cost as getting just one in either Europe, at an EASA school, or USA at an FAA school?

You will then be in the enviable position of having both options, work in the USA as you are a citizen, or in Europe/Finland (subject to work permits which I am not sure about).... Should be able to get both for around $50-$60,000 subject to previous experience.

As for being the "wrong side of 30", don't forget, this might have been a concern when the retirement age for pilots was 55 many years ago, today its 65 and up (depending on country) and is set to rise even further with life expectancy on increase, so do not worry, you are still young!, enjoy it.

Good luck!

SJ
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Old 15th Jan 2020, 09:18
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Thanks all for the input!

Just to clarify, I could fly back to the US and do my PPL and then IR, then return to Finland to do my CPL or ATPL theory via distance learning? Would hour building towards the 250 hr minimum here in EU count in the US?
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