That's because we are one year away from movement and growth ... or that's what I've been telling my wife for the past 5 years.

While China is a big place, my expat buddies who work over there say the pollution is horrible. Wife / kids have problems ranging from rashes to asthma. They escape down to the Philippine beaches as much as they can.

For those of us familiar with the Chinese pollution, Beijing is really untenable. Shanghai is not too bad. From altitude during the daytime, every Chinese city, from small to large, usually has a visible pollution dome/bubble above it.

IMO, the pollution is the biggest hurdle china has to overcome.

index
 

You never thought you'd lose your pension either, age 65, 700 DCI a/c, multiple JVs, etc...

The article is just proof of what will be a growing sentiment for "change." I reached my conclusion well before reading the article. Ask your average passenger if they would like more competition if it resulted in lower airfares.

Capacity restraint is driving airfares higher (which is a good thing) but the public--the politicians' constituents--eventually are going to demand cabotage. Most don't know the meaning of the term, but make no mistake--the majority will be for it for the promise of lower airfares.

Who/what is going to stop Emirates, Ethiad, and others from flying point to point in the U.S.? If $ talks---and it does---who is going to win the money battle, ALPA PAC or the guys sitting on top of billions of barrels of oil?

Great point and sums up why I can't understand the association signing off on this vague language. I have flown with enough pilots who are sick and try to fool everyone, including themselves, unsuccessfully. I don't just mean physically sick. How many guys fly while they are preoccupied with a dying parent, sick child, divorce, financial problems etc...? Those pilots are not mentally fit and have a legitimate psychological reason to avoid the cockpit. These mental situations are much more of a threat in my experience than mild physical ailments which may be easy to "verify." This policy change will only exacerbate the problem of flying while sick, especially the most dangerous that can't be "verified." I would argue the definition of sick be expanded and more emphasis be placed on calling in sick by our association.

I am aware that the company may or may not have viewed some of these circumstances as "sick" even prior to this contract. However, this action of "verification" will push more pilots to the cockpit, whereas prior to C2012, better judgement would have prevailed. IMO, this makes the operation less safe, which runs counter to the primary mission statement of our association.

A phone call by itself is punitive. It says "I don't trust you." You should not have your integrity challenged for calling in sick. This policy has not been thought through on either side of the table and should be changed asap.

Take care of the 97% and don't expend much effort on the 3%. Most of the effort, time and money that is wasted on the 3% is disproportionate to the return.

There is a lot of talk here about China. I've experienced it first hand. I am not going to expound much, but out of 8 American's that went over, all but one returned after the completion of the contract. The only one that stayed was hired by Hainan Airlines as a Seattle based 330 CA. The fact that no one decided to sign on again after three years should tell you something.

One other thing regarding flight time. From what I witnessed, the Chinese airlines and CAAC closely monitor and regularly audit pilot flight time. For example, the FO fills out the logbooks, the Captain signs both, and at the end of the month you submit your logbook to the company and they audit it.
When was the last time you or your FO pulled out an almanac of sunrise and sunset times so they could accurately log your night hours? My jaw dropped when I saw this happen the first time.

I brought proof I had flown the Brasilia in a hot hub city flying multiple legs a day with minimal A/C, on a plane the flight attendant didnt want to be on, to places youd never vacation in, tickled to death to occasionally stay in a hotel instead of a motel, lots of MELs and mechanics walked to with their heads down, shunned in the crew room and damn near impossible to find any photographic acknowledgement of the airplane on the training center walls and so on.

they said "meets the MD88 prerequisities..."


and I brought my mom for character reference.

RINFLOL

Is you mother like mine? I was afraid mine would confuse the interviewers, she even confuses me ....

"Son, you fly for Eastern?
No, Eastern's out of business
So it's Southwest?
No, we were flipped off to Sky West
Yeah, Southwest, that's what I said
No, Sky West, but we are Atlantic Southeast and we fly for Delta ...
Oh, Delta? When are you going to fly a big plane, you know, one with four engines like your father flew
Probably never
Oh, so you're not really a pilot?
That's right, Mom."

Will Smith's family saw my career trajectory:

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/ok4...kz7o3_1280.jpg

Thanks for the kind words and the suggestion. Good luck in your recovery as well...

And the reality is if ALPA PAC was so crucial to stabilizing the industry and keeping US based airlines strong why doesn't DL management stand behind or contribute through PAC furthering the cause? My belief is that companies like AMR want to be foreign owned for the initial capital outlay (refleeting) and a company like DL sees the future as a worldwide corporation with many brands of flying; maybe even shift it's HQ or threaten to as leverage.

The reality is the train has nearly left the station on cabotage, it's a matter of time. My advice to young guys at the regionals is to abandon conventional wisdom and thought, open your horizons. If upgrades to WB CA are five to eight years, that would put one in the drivers seat should a foreign carrier ever open a US base. Or you could come to DL, live in ATL, DTW or NYC flying narrow bodies. Or UAL/CAL or AMR/US and deal with that fallout.

Don't get me wrong, I'm lucky to be at DL considering the other options, but I am also forward thinking enough to realize the game will continue to change. Expecting a 20-35 year career without considering the change ahead is foolish.