Originally Posted by Nantonaku

How would you feel if the company you worked for paid your baggage handlers a couple hundred dollars a month? And in one of the most expensive cities in the world, in some of the harshest working conditions in the world. Watch the Real Sports from a couple weeks ago about the working conditions in Qatar for those building the infastrucutre for the World Cup to get a feel for what other lower end jobs are like in his part of the world.

That isn't the point anyway, the point is these carriers are not playing by the rules they agreed to play by, that is what we are debating. Did you read the White Paper? Maybe you should read it again.

Originally Posted by MikeF16

The UAE has extremely generous social welfare programs for native Emirates, they are well bribed and there was no need for a spring since they happily live in benevolent bondage. In addition, they put the NSA to shame when it comes to controlling their population. While I don't suggest they have the same massive technical ability to spy on the entire world like my Uncle Sam, they are laser focused on their own country and take drastic actions against their sphere of influence to nip any dissent in the bud. The guy in the linked story at the bottom of my post spent 7 months in jail for a YouTube video that only mildly pokes fun at UAE gangsta wannabes. 7 months for a tiny joke that didn't even criticize the leadership. The only reason we even know about it is because he was an American. The UAE is a religious police state with very tight controls, there will be no spring here for a VERY long time.

Originally Posted by gloopy

Exactly. Thanks to the 5th fleet and massive military welfare from the US and to a much lesser extent EU and a few others.

They wouldn't last 5 minutes without their western mercenaries protecting them 24/7. Actually mercenary isn't a fair word, because at least mercenaries are the ones getting paid.