Frontier Airlines Looking To Hire Foreign Pilots

Frontier Airlines is looking abroad for pilots because of the current pilot shortage in the United States.

Frontier hiring Australian first officers with E-3 visas

The airline industry has been affected by the Pandemic. Airlines were in a rough spot two years ago as demand for air travel plummeted and many pilots were given early retirement packages. With demand for air travel coming back in full force, airlines are able to hire more pilots.

Regional airlines and ultra low cost carriers have some issues with hiring, but for the most part the legacy carriers are okay. Frontier Airlines is trying to hire Australian nations who are eligible for the E3 visa program.

Australian citizens can work in the United States in specialty occupations with an E3 visa. The visa can be renewed indefinitely.

The airline is looking for pilots with at least 1,500 hours of total flight time, but only 2,500 hours are preferred. 750 hours of multi-engine fixed wing time and 500 hours as a pilot in command is what the airline is requesting.

If in the coming months you are flying Frontier Airlines, you will hear a pilot with an Australian accent make an announcement, which may explain why there are also pilots who aren't part of this program who still have Australian accents.

US regional airlines have done this in the past

This isn't the first time that a US airline has tried to find pilots through the E3 visa program. Regional airlines in the US have tried to hire pilots this way before. I have been on more than one SkyWest flight where I assumed a pilot was working as part of the arrangement.

This seems like a win-win.

• The E-3 visa program is specifically for Australians, so it’s quite easy for pilots to be recruited this way
• Australia has historically had more pilots than good paying pilot jobs (given how small Australia’s population is), which is why you’ll find so many Australians working as pilots at Gulf carriers, etc.
• The Australian Dollar is significantly weaker than the US Dollar, so the pay at US airlines is also potentially quite lucrative for someone based in Australia

I’m always fascinated by ex-pat pilots

I wanted to be an airline pilot when I was a kid. I wanted to work for a foreign airline. I suppose that's for the better, given the state of Hong Kong.

I am always fascinated by the hiring practices of various airlines and how diverse the workforces are at some airlines. There are pilots from all over the world at Gulf carriers. I listen to pilot announcements because I can guess where they are from, not just because I want to know what they are saying.

There are some ex-pat arrangements that may come as a surprise. I was surprised to see Mexican pilots on Air Astana I flew several years ago. I found out that Air Astana recruits in Mexico and has a lot of pilots from there. How interesting.

The captain of the Hainan Airlines flight I took had a strong Texas accent. Oh, Hah.

Bottom line

US airlines are facing a major pilot shortage, and Frontier Airlines is trying to address that by hiring pilots from Australia under the E3 visa program. This is something that we have seen regional carriers do in the past, but I believe this is the first time that Frontier is doing this. I wonder if this will become a more widespread practice as airlines deal with pilot shortages.

What do you think about Frontier's strategy for hiring pilots?