Natural, Easy Transition. . .

Anthony left today. He flew back to London to convert his FAA licenses over to the JAA in the UK. In addition, his visa was up, so he needed to go renew it. What happens during this process should be "easy and natural" but as in many things, it is harder to have your partner gone than here. I'm sure many in a relationship (and some who aren't) understand. I really look forward to him being gainfully employed!

The issues of work, immigration and pay are critical for many businesses and industries. Who is willing to do the work, who is qualified to do the work and what is reasonable compensation?

This certainly isn't confined to pilots. There are many highly technical or trained jobs which have more demand than supply, as there are those in which unskilled labor is aggressively sought out by immigrants. Should be be protectionist in our workplace? I am not so sure. One of the issues facing small business is the level of expectation of employees: benefits, salary (or any compensation), vacation, sick leave, etc. . Dovetail this with the expectation of our government to tax the owners, the business itself and the employees, that is a lot of friction to producing quality goods and services. Perhaps we should be less forceful in controlling who is eligible "to work" and instead allow the business to decide who the best employees are. Wouldn't that make more sense?