Got to agree, TD; Mr Jardini's post was one of the most amusing I've read in some time. Even though a good deal of us have JAR ATPLs, I still think we are not worthy. Likewise, even though many of us have flown from the most dodgy airfields in PNG, Africa, South America etc and have taken 737s and 757s into 1400/1500m airports, we definitely are not up to handling the dreaded 1830m of BFS, nor the lack of terrain and excellent European ATC system that exists on most of Ryanair's route structure.
He's right, though, the Japanese should be bowing and scraping before us (especially if you've managed to squeeze into St Etienne, at only 2300m long). In fact, there should be no selection procedure at all. Instead they should re-write their requirements and offer immediate employment on a new 'special pilot' payscale. This will, however, only be available to those for whom the Japanese should be especially grateful i.e. the chosen few who can handle the beast that is the 737 and who are able to employ their superior piloting skills to land and pull the thing up in only the 2255m available at La Rochelle.
Yep, I feel pretty stupid now, having undergone the normal selection process and training that all my colleagues have done. I should have realised the Japanese should have rolled out the 'red carpet' for me. I'll ask our ex-Ryanair pilots if RYR did the same for them because it certainly sounds like the modus operandi from Mr Jardini's employer
