FDX MD vs Airbus question

[navyflyer]

Trying to make an informed decision. I know, I know, bid what I want to fly...trouble is, I don't know what I want to fly.

1) What are the pros and cons of each acft?
2) Route structure? My understanding now is that the Airbus has more domestic flying than the MD and the lines are similiar to the 727. True? (When I ask guys whay they chose the AB, they say,"I wanted to stay CONUS for the family...yadda yadda yadda.")
3) Intl flying: Does the intl stuff go senior or junior?
4) How's the schoolhouse quality? Heard the MD has improved and the AB has declined.
5) Any other suggestions on how/what to bid?

Thanks for your time and input.

 

[Phaedrus]

If you're junior to me (which I doubt), bid the MD to ANC. It's a no-brainer!

 

[TheBaron]

Seeing that you were a squid, I would say the Airbus would probably be good for you. On the off chance you are one of those rare hetero sailors, you would like the MD-11.

 

[AlbieF15]

Recent pireps on MD11 school are excellent--this coming from a couple of fighter guys. Most were 727 FO's for a while first, but the other went VFR direct from SO slot with no problem. I think things are better there than they once were--at least anecdotally.

Next--get Fastbid and discect the bidpacks. Then you can figure what you think would be best for you... Domestic trips in MD include a lot of west coast trips. Bus trips look a lot like the DDH 727 trips. Depends on your favorite....

 

[bustinmins]

Good post Navyflyer!

I was thinking the same thing. Thanks for putting it on here so we can all share what beta there is to be had.

I'm bidding all of the right seat windows in Memphis. I'm avoiding ANC, SFS and LAX for the commute to the High Country. I enjoy my staging protection. Of course, since we'll be commuting to reserve for a while - I don't guess the staging thing really matters until we have a line.

I heard you had a brutal drop/add session last bid. I hope you can fill the sked back to your liking. Talk to you soon.

XYV

 

[Ninerfan]

Md11

Just finished MD11 training. Very good program, AQP has really made the flow very logical. The instructors had great attitudes and were very professional. It is a long program...3 months to the day from start to end of IOE, a marathon..not a sprint.

I would look at the Airbus and MD bidpacks and study the lines/trips. I downloaded both into Fastbid and spent some time clicking thru the lines and looking at the trips. I am a commuter and it looked like as a junior FO, the MD was more commutable....I like bigger blocks of work followed by longer time off. Most of the reserve lines are built with bigger blocks than the Airbus. In addition, the junior VTO lines generally have a intl trip on them as the primary trip and MD10 trips to fill out the month....again more commutable.

It's hard to tell if intl goes senior. Some senior FOs are bidding domestic double deadheads and some are intl junkies. Bid awards are very mixed there, plus guys are bidding RFO trips too.

The MD10 domestic trips are generally one leg in, one leg out. The jet serves large markets domestically and leaves the hubs pretty full...thus min legs. We have a few double legs to/from Mexico and just a few am out and backs. A lot of the domestic double dh lines mix a run in from the west coast with a shorter east coast or midwest leg to make the hub turn work.

The jet is very gucci....quiet, big cockpit. Very advanced FMS...and displays. MD11 has lots of power...at max TOGW will climb right up to altitude. MD10-10s are power pigs. Satcom datalink for ocean crossings is very handy. The new contract favors intl flying with the higher override and the rig increase....you will make more $ flying intl.

Some MD11 cons: The intl rules are little bit of a pain in the ass to learn especially with LIDO. The landing gear on both jets isn't the most robust in the industry...that's been beat to death on this forum. Long trips, I hear guys say the 10-12 day intl trips do wear you down. You won't go to training for quite a while as the current trg ltr runs thru October.

I have never flown the Airbus. From what my crashpad roomates say, the program is AQP but not as fully converted to that flow like the MD11. Sounds lke the FMS isn't as capable. The program is a little shorter than the MD. It really is a 727 replacement so I'd be ready for multi leg trips. We are buying a lot of them so progression might better over the next few years.

Good luck.

 

[dtfl]

Good post Navyflyer!

I was thinking the same thing. Thanks for putting it on here so we can all share what beta there is to be had.

I'm bidding all of the right seat windows in Memphis. I'm avoiding ANC, SFS and LAX for the commute to the High Country. I enjoy my staging protection. Of course, since we'll be commuting to reserve for a while - I don't guess the staging thing really matters until we have a line.

I heard you had a brutal drop/add session last bid. I hope you can fill the sked back to your liking. Talk to you soon.

XYV

What is the length of time a new-hire is sitting reserve these days?

 

[DLax85]

What is the length of time a new-hire is sitting reserve these days?

Depends what seat they put you in....about 70 guys this summer got direct hired to MD-11 FO slots to ANC because there were FO vacancies to ANC after the last big bid (Mar 06)....depending on what happens on the upcoming Mar/Apr 07 bid (i.e. all the MD-11 FO slots to ANC being taken by more senior guys) the last of those new hires could be sitting reserve up there for quite some time. (Any ANC FOs want to chime in with the real #s??)

In the 727 world, about 40 of the 150 new guys hired since Aug have gone direct to the right seat....once again, they will be sitting reserve for quite a while as those senior to them upgrade from SO to FO this winter/spring effectively pushing those guys backwards until more junior folks begin to upgrade....maybe this summer/fall.

The 110 guys who have gotten the more "std" 727 SO seats as new hires are rapidly gaining seniority in the seat due to the large # of folks they've been pushing thru the backseat since mid-Aug (about 30 per month)....in their case the only backward movement is from Age 60 guys sticking around and coming to the backseat (about 2 per month), and this has been far offset by more senior SOs upgrading....at the current 727/SO training rates it appears one can get off reserve in 2-3 months, which should only improve this spring summer as even more senior 727 SOs go to FO training in the 727 or wide-body....best guess is this trend will continue thru about 2008 as the total FEDEX pilot force grows from the current 4,800+ to about 5,300...then it's anyones guess on FEDEX pilot growth...also, any change in the age 60 rule is bound to have some effect.

Yeah...definitely a long answer to a short question...but then again with the way they are bringing new hires in these days, it's no longer straight forward.

Aloha

 

[ilandopr]

Ninerfan talks about 10-12 day trips which is true for a 28-day bid period. But the 35-day bid period has its fair share of 15-17 day pairings! Wanna talk about a bag drag? And most of those pairings end up being SFS night hub turns.