Andy

You're sounding a bit paranoid. I doubt that any airline's targeting ME3 pilot to either hire them or blackball them. The open talk here about doing either is just typical pilot rants. I don't advocate targeting ME3 pilots for blackballing nor do I advocate giving them preferential hiring.

A lot of stuff written on these boards is simply blowing off steam, allowing people to speak their minds under the cover of anonymity. I post my opinion here - sometimes I'm right, other times I'm way out in left field.

As far as this particular topic, there are arguments for both sides. My personal opinion prior to the Emirates MXP-JFK route authority was that the ME3 threat was overblown. However, with the granting of 5th Freedom Rights on that route in spite of plenty of nonstop service on that route (American, Delta, Alitalia. Even United EWR-MXP), my level of concern over the ME3 has increased. Time will tell if granting Fifth Freedom Route Authority to/from the US will continue or if this was a one-off. If 5th freedom routes becomes a trend, I'll get more concerned.

However, the ME3 aren't the only ones with Fifth Freedom Routes in/out of the US on adequately served routes.

As far as other routes in/out of the US:
Los Angeles London LHR Air New Zealand
Los Angeles Paris Air Tahiti Nui
Los Angeles Rarotonga Air New Zealand
Los Angeles Sao Paulo Korean Airlines
Los Angeles Seoul Thai Airways
Los Angeles Tokyo NRT Malaysia Airlines
Los Angeles Tokyo NRT Singapore Airlines
New York EWR Brussels Jet Airways
New York JFK Frankfurt Singapore Airlines
New York JFK London LHR Kuwait Airways
New York JFK Milan MXP Emirates
New York JFK Osaka China Airlines
New York JFK Vancouver Cathay Pacific
San Francisco Hong Kong Singapore Airlines
San Francisco Seoul Singapore Airlines
Washington DC Dakar South African Airways


Out of all of those routes, only the DC to Dakar route could be considered underserved.