I have to disagree with you 100% on this. Today, the first officer has the authority to nix the flight or walk away from the cockpit if he feels that the Captain is about to embark on a negligent trip (such as the one in the book did on SEVERAL ocassions, on separate days) and your union would have protected you in the worst case scenario.

I remember a part in the book where this guy Pete finally decided to stand up for himself and speak up, and went to talk to the Chief pilot about the Captain, and the Chief Pilot just laughed in his face and didn't believe a word he said, further making Pete feel like he was enslaved in a hellish nightmare.

Yes, maybe in 1998 San Juan that would have worked but not in today's environment. Furthermore, you have to understand that San Juan is known in its culture for having a very different mindset to that of mainland America. It's Hispanic and in that culture a lot of things are allowed to happen that shouldn't - like I said, wrong place, bad timing.

I do agree with you about the low pay, that sucks, and that hasn't changed one bit and I think everyone is hoping that one day, pilots at the regional level will be compensated for what they're worth, especially because of how much sacrifice was put into getting there in the first place (this guy moved like 56 times).

Either way....like I said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but his case, again, sounds like an extreme circumstance - but don't get me wrong, I am not discrediting him in any way, I just feel bad for him, because it just seems like his entire life up until he decided to leave the industry was bad luck after bad luck after bad luck....