ASpd, thank you for taking the generous amount of time and effort to post your detailed thoughts and opinions. They are very welcome, the more so because of the breadth of your experience. While our small group at FUD central consists of fairly diverse backgrounds, our combined effort does not approach the number of countries you have flown in! And it is really great to get some intel from SZ; none of us were from there (though we did have several stories contributed from outside TJ).

Respectfully, I'd like to take the liberty of adding to one of your comments for the sake of our audence:
What I'd like to do is initiate a discussion of something I am confident you will have great insight on; namely, the decision making process.

What a lot of expats get smacked with, in the face, with a tire, is the realization early on (after the interview pink cloud has dissipated) that QAR data (FOQA) is used directly against the pilot. The problem with the concept of flying outside of china is that you are still encumbered with the fact that the QAR is busily recording every action (or non-action) you take on deck. Banking the aircraft over 30-deg for more than 2 seconds is just as valid on approach into SEA as it is for PEK and you will be doing a carpet dance to explain yourself, depending on the severity of the flight department (I heard SZ was a little more laid back than Hainan group).It's madness, and what's more, (the insidious part) is that it WILL begin to colour your experience, particularly if you are a fairly new captain with only a thousand hours or so under your belt. Even then, the more experienced guys who had time in the training department back home complained to me how they felt their standards were sliding; this coming on one occasion at the pub over adult beverages from a very good colleague who had instructor time and over 10k hours, most of which was on type in the left seat.

I've been researching the field of study that looks closely at decision making; there are some decent gateway articles on the subject at Wiki:


The PROBLEM here is that you start thinking in terms of what action will/won't bring punishment to you after you land and THIS is exceedingly dangerous in my mind; it is the crux of the issue and it is what ultimately led several of us to bid the Chinese adieu and look for jobs elsewhere.

Indeed, you are faced with extreme lifestyle challenges that haunt your every hour outside work. But when your are confronted with the problem that your every decision will be taken apart by the same artless people you describe as the FOs who can't land to save their lives... It becomes untenable and as you say, a WHEN not an IF you leave.

Don't be fooled.

C.S.