Originally Posted by sealandair

Macman,

Watashi mo Nihongo wo hanashimasu. I spent some time in Japan as well.

That being said, you're not likely to "get a chance speaking Japanese" very much, simply from being a crew-member, aside from a little pre and post trip chit-chat. Unless of course you add in the fact of living in Japan and do all that on your off time. Another thing to be cautious of, is that the Asian idea of a "contract" is a lot looser than a Westerner's is. I doubt their pilot unions have anywhere near as much leverage, though I may be wrong about that.

I would certainly shoot for ANA, as opposed to JAL. A couple years ago JAL was slashing pilots' salaries by 30%, just in an attempt to please its investors that it was doing what it could to lessen already high debt. At this point ANA pilots might make more than JAL. Sorry I cannot be more specific.

I believe I would do what someone else here said... be a superstar in school, then get an ROTC commission and fly F-15s out of Kadena AFB in Okinawa. Plenty of time to mingle, you'll be a "supa-hiro" to the Japanese ladies. Heck... get married and have dual citizenship, then you can pretty much plot your own course. Permanent flight crewmember with seniority at JAL/ANA, or, nearly guaranteed into the majors stateside.