Qantas-link line-check
Had a bit of a surprise yesterday,....last leg of a 4 day trip from KLAS-KPHX....Get a jumpseat request from a Qantas link,Dash-8 Captain,he had all the paper work from the FAA.The reason being they have merger issues in OZ and they had recieved permission to observe flights.
I introduced myself ,and told him there was no bloody way I was going to let an Aussie sit in the jumpseat!!!!...joking of course,we immediatly started abusing each others cricket and rugby teams....I knew I was going to get along well with this bloke ,the F/O was taken back a little but soon figured out we were just giving each other a little bit of stick .
Seems,they had 3-4 Q-link boys in the country,doing these observation flights and from the feedback were enjoying themselves.The flight being only an hour long,didnt leave a lot of time for talk but we managed to dicuss a few issues and not surprisingly....there doesnt seem to be a lot of difference in the current attitudes and climate,s of Airlines in Oz and here...
Enjoyed having him in the cockpit and wish all the boys at the "link" airlines all the best,seems you also have some tough times ahead...PB