If they did that the round the clock per diem would be more than the basic salary for a U.S. First Officer. Hopefully Mesa would have a provision for that in their contract.

Realistically speaking it couldn't happen that easily. The pilot in question would have to be approved by the Chinese aviation authorites which would require a license validation and at least one written air law exam.

Unfortunately this idea just shows the continuing stupidity of U.S. airline management. RJs flying domestically in China is like offering C-172 service between LAX and SFO. There are over 1 billion people there. The small cities have 10 million people. The smallest airplanes should be 737 or A320s. Their air traffic control system can not handle a bazillion RJs flying around.


Typhoonpilot