frankg, my life experience tells me before long you will personally be severely disappointed by the actions of various Officers in trusted positions. When political expedience enters the scene (and the UN is a wholly political body) you will be surprised at what some people can be forced to do.
IMHO (with the emphasis on HUMBLE) the HKAOA has long been beating a dead horse and is straying some distance from today's reality - as are you. In today's job market the airline that employs you can - with some difficulty, I would admit - fire the lot of you and find replacements in no time flat, whether you like it or not. Cathay is known as a plum employer and I am sure qualified and current pilots would leave their present Sad Sack employers and jump the fence in the twinkling of an eye, ban or no ban, if it looked like permanent work.
You can only take any cause just so far. I would suggest that limit is approaching, however slowly/rapidly, and I would HUMBLY suggest that those who cherish their jobs at CX should take a serious look at how much they appreciate their careers in this time of severe pilot job shortages... once laid off from CX they then carry a red stamp on their forehead for future employers.
Perhaps it is time to revisit reality and either cut losses or make a deal, my friend.
And at the very least you might consider cutting back on the rhetoric against those who are entitled to express their own opinions on this forum - you are not in the hallowed halls of the HKAOA here.
[ 01 March 2002: Message edited by: ipanema ]</p>