Expert: D. Norkus - 3/1/2006

Question
Hi Dottie,

I'm a 22 year aviation professional, former AF Flt Eng on the C-141B. I'm currently working for an ACMI, Cargo Charter airline as a Manager. Our company employs Flt Engs on the 747-200. I put in my paperwork to make the transition to Flt Eng  however there dosen't seem to be any positions open or none in the near future. Should I wait it out here or pursue positions elsewhere? I'm married with children, I feeling I should wait. However, I do recall years ago Engineers making out very nicely on a JAL contract. Please advise.

Best Regards,
John

Answer
John

Your question seems to be about two things:
Should I go fo a FE position (at an airline like JAL) or as the title asked, "FE to pilot". Two very different avenues!

Covering all the necessary points about making the jump to a pilot career is something that is really too involved to cover via this forum. For that reason I will provide the webpage I created (with it's associated links) about the topic to give you the background info you need. Once you digest that and have an over all "big picture" about how to go about it, feel free to ask me some specific questions if you have them.

http://www.geocities.com/av8trxx99/FAQ.html  

As far as the FE position, it doesn't sound as if you want to stay where you are but having a family may limit your ability to go elsewhere for a job (and that may be the case if you want a FE job). I am sure you already know that FE positions are few and far between in this day & age of two pilot cockpits, so your opportunities as a PFE here may be limited.

Re: JAL- In 1991, Japan Airlines (JAL�) created an alter ego� corporation called Hawaii Aviation Contract Services (HACS). There purpose was to hire (non-Japanese) flight crews to fly their passenger airplanes between Hawaii and Asia. For pay purposes�, the flight crews are employees of HACS, in reality employed by JAL. A word of caution: JAL has been accused of discrimination by it's HACS employees and due to the fact they actually fly for JAL, not HACS, apparently makes it possible for them to get away with it.

I suggest going to the message boards at http://forums.flightinfo.com and asking about HACS/JAL and PFE positions in general if you are looking to make a switch. It is the largest message board in the US for flight crews. Apparently, they are not currently recruiting for PFE positions though- http://www.hawaiiaviation.com/positions.htm

While the forums at www.Airliners.net require a registration fee to post, they are free to read. Here is a good post about FEs & becoming a pilot- http://www.airliners.net/discussions/tech_ops/print.main?id=43703

Another place you might post about PFEs is this predominantly European (yet worldwide) crew site http://www.pprune.org

Lastly, this industry job publication has a host of options and may be worth a look to see what is out there- http://www.airjobsdigest.com

and these sites may have jobs of interest-
http://www.avianation.com
http://www.airapps.com/

Hope this helps
Dottie