Hi tcw3,
as I had the PRK surgery 8 years ago, and currently have been flying on an airliner for 6 years, I was wondering the same questions you wrote up there.
I received an email from an agency stating that in Japan and China you are not considered fit if you had the eye surgery, but...
...I found this on
Airman Medical Examination(?class of medical certificate) - Pilot Jobs in China--Enjoy your flight with Smile Aviation :
Chinese Airlines Pilot Medical Check Standard
Those who bear the following deficiencies shall not be accepted:
a) Respiratory system: Asthma, spontaneous pneumothorax, Large chest after surgery;
b) Osteoarthropathy: lubar intervertebral disc protrusion, Cervical spondylosis (phase II and above);
c) Immune System: Rheuma, rheumatoid;
d) Digestive System: Severe fatty liver, gastric ulcer, gall-stone;
e) Infectious Disease: all kinds of hepatitis, hepatitis b surface antigen positive, TB, HIV, venereal disease and other types of infectious disease;
f) Circulative System: Myocarditis, hypertension stage I above, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease;
g) Gurinary system: Kidney stones, bladder calculus, ureteral calculi
h) Skin: noticeable scar and affect function and image
i) Eye: Color blind, cataract
j) Ear, nose and throat disease: vestibular function obstacle, hearing obstacle, height of hearing impairment.
That's for China, and as you can see, eye surgery is not mentioned as unacceptable. However, I guess it will be carefully evaluated by the doctors there.