I have been following this thread for some time and decided to join the forum so I could reply. It's interesting how a lot of people see affirmative action. However, I think alot of you have the wrong I idea. It's not made to be a hand out. It is made to prevent discrimination. If two equally qualified pilots apply for the same job(but one is black and one is white) affirmative action will make sure that the black guy isn't counted out just because he is black. I fail to see how that is a bad thing. I fail to see why anyone would have a problem with that. Sounds fair to me.