PolishFlyerDude

I have never flown an international leg at SWA. I did the training for it that SWA offered way back in 2012 or 2013 or whenever that was but have yet to do anything international.

That being said, is there some kind of route qual we have to do in order to get the *INTL* tag? Do I need to have the *INTL* tag to bid open time trips that go to an international destination?

Also, what's the deal with food bags on international legs? I carry a food bag. Do I need to go into customs with all my bags even when I'm not spending the night? What happens with food bags on international overnights? Do you have to throw out all your fresh food?

Thanks in advance for the info.

at6d

If I remember the qual is two turns to an international destination.

Not sure on the food bag as I only did the turns and they provided a meal on the return leg, but I vaguely remember something about all food has to be disposed of. Not sure if that goes for turns.

Lewbronski

Thanks brother. Do you have to do the qual first with one of those international fam pilots in order to bid for trips with international legs?

at6d

That I don’t know—I never flew with one of those guys. I just assumed that since I have the clan tag now I can bid.

hoover

Just one of you need to be int qualified. The cpt can always ask for a flight observer. Its no big deal. Also on food bag I've never been asked about what's in my food bag. Packaged stuff is fine. Probably leave the whole fruit at home or eat it before getting back in the US.

PolishFlyerDude

Thank you!

waterskisabersw

Just a quick caveat, you're asked about what's in your food back every time you enter the country. It's on the customs form. Basically anything fresh is prohibited, be it nuts, fruit, meat, or anything that you've prepared at home.

While some of the meals I prep for myself are kind of self explanatory (chicken breast, vegetable, starch), I also like to make soups or pasta sauces on the road that I can heat up in my little portable hot plate without having to "prepare" anything. Usually I only bring food with internationally because I've forgotten that I was doing an international turn somewhere. Even on a turn though, if I have food, I'll declare it and hope for the mercy of the agents.

I've had to throw things like lunch meat away, but I usually just get a scolding for something like a pre-prepared meal or soup, but they ARE in their rights to make you dispose of it. If you don't declare it, you can be fined.

If you're doing an overnight, this can get a little dicey if you fail to declare something in a foreign country. I know we don't go to Canada because we don't understand how to accept foreign money, but I have a friend who was banned from Canada for ten years because he had an orange in his flight bag that he had taken from the hotel that morning. He didn't declare it (he forgot it was there), they found it, presto: banned from Canada for a decade. It was actually a huge hassle for him because we were working at a regional out of Detroit and we did Canada flying constantly. The contract was not very good there, so he had to limit his bids so as not to ever go to Canada, because he would get it pulled without pay or get a no-show. Big pain, and it hurt his bidding fire power substantially.

I'm sure swa would be better, but then again, we also don't do that much international flying, and this kind of thing isn't addressed in the contract. Another reason we need a rewrite.

Smokey23

Unless it's changed since the early days, you don't have to have an FP (though one will be provided if Cappie requests it ahead of time). It's not rocket science...just dust off the IFOM and look at the SIP resources for your destination ahead of the flight.

ZapBrannigan

When you guys are declaring food, do you write down everything in your food bags, including the unopened pre-packaged foods?

WHACKMASTER

Hell no. I just tell the officer. Sometimes I don’t. Whatever….