F D X v. S W A

[800Dog]

FedEx, no brainer.

 

[walkthasky]

Which one would you pick if you were hired at both today?

oh COME ON! youre actually gonna base THAT choice on this forum's opinion?

oh, and pick SWA!!!

 

[skykid]

It's not hard at all to stay up 24 hours straight twice a week, if you commute home on the weekends.

Why in the world would anyone stay up 24 hours straight twice in a week? I prefer to fly nights at FedEx and generally get 7-8 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. I'm a commuter too. At night there are less thunderstorms, almost no traffic (except at MEM), and NO PASSENGERS. Course there are a ton of guys here who chose (and it doesn't take that long depending on how you bid and what seat you go to) to only fly during the day.

If you have an interest in flying literally anywhere in the world, I'd consider FedEx. Some guys don't care about that - whatever floats your boat. I'm going to the MD11 after a couple more years domestic to get in on some of these around the world trips.

 

[CX880]

For what it's worth if I was in your situation, I would go Fedex and never look back. Southwest is just like any other airline with better pay. Fedex is a special company.

 

[scoreboard]

Dude, if you have to ask, don't come to SWA. Not slamming just an observation. My best buds love Fedex, if you don't like 7 legs in a day, go for Fred. If you like working with people, go SWA.

 

[HighSpeedClimb]

No brainer...FDX, more money, more stability, better business...Packages are better than pax and when the cost of oil goes up FDX just ads the surcharge to the customer. Pax airlines get all kinds of flack when they raise prices due to oil increases. You will retire at FDX, pax lines, who knows. I have to say though, if I was in your situation, I wouldn't need to ask a bunch of shmucks on Flightinfo to make my decision.

 

[jball2]

My friend, I must say that most of these people have no clue. If you are single, SWA all the way!!!! Married with kids, ( like me ) you have a decsion to make. First of all, SWA pilots do not all fly 7 legs a day. I am on 3 day right now that is 4-2-4 and it pays 26.1. I have flown 7 legs once in 5 years. I did that to myself so I can't complain. FedEx is Awsome in its own way. The pay is great, the A/C are well taken care of but leaving the hotel when the SWA guys are showing up to the bar would be hard for me. I know, not all of the flying is night, but a lot of it is and that is enough for me.

Either way , you are in GREAT shape. my friends at Fedex love it and I can't think of anyone here at SWA that doesn't. Live where you work!!!

 

[propjob27]

Real tough call. And I HATE these threads. I can't belive I actually started one myself way back when. I must have been out of my mind.

Don't ask for this kind of advice on this forum. It just turns into "My company is better than your company! and My dad can beat up your dad!" Not to mention these nut jobs that say "My god! If you even have to ask, go to the other company, not mine! We don't want your kind here. We just want zealouts who would give their left nut to work here..."

Ask your real buds, make a decision, and live with it.

 

[Babylon]

Good options. FEDEX can be great but night flying/intl flying is tough. As I type I've been up for about 30 hours - plenty of time to sleep but it's difficult after flying all night on an intl 2 leg flight and dealing with body clock shifts, etc. I think financially there's no question that Fedex is in a much stronger position and will probably continue to be so. I think you have more variety at Fedex - SWA flying is all the same - you will rarely have the opportunity to enjoy any layovers because there are no long layovers - are there any rigs at all? I just got off a 48 layover in Hong Kong and have another 48 hour layover in Singapore in a week - pretty cool stuff. Flying back and forth to the same place domestically will get old fast.

You can't really compare the pay rates - you will make far more money at Fedex when you consider the benefits. Yes there are SW guys that make $250K+ working their tails off and their are FX guys that make $350+ doing the same. I think one big thing is that at Fedex things get better as you get more senior - vacation, trips, the bidding - it gets a lot better. SW guys seem to pretty much stay the same. I will say this though - SW guys just seem happier and more optimistic - not sure why that is but I jumpseat quite a bit on SW and their cockpit crews are just cooler guys to hang with. At Fedex we have a LOT of old ex military farts (I'm a young ex-military fart) and they are just boring as you can imagine.

Great options though. Good luck.

 

[propjob27]

Babylon said it right.

Bottom line is, you will DEFINATELY make more money at FedEX, and you will make more money for flying LESS. When compared to the pax industry, FedEX pilots absolutely spend less time strapped to the seat.

However, like Babylon said, the Southwest pilot group is also "cooler" and more laid back than the typical FedEX guy. Now there are cool guys here at FedEX, and there are dorks at Southwest. But in general, Southwest crews are probably more fun to fly with. There are more guys at FedEX that for some unknown reason, seem to enjoy making this job tougher than it actually is.

There is no right answer. Like I said before, ask you buds, not flightinfo.

 

[Purpled]

If you are single, SWA all the way!!!! Married with kids, ( like me ) you have a decsion to make.

Ok, I'll bite. What gives here? I'm sure you can't be referring to the Stews.

 

[Brian a300]

You'll never know if you made the right decision until you turn 60 and retire, but once you make your decision now stick with it and don't look back. I think there are alot of great guys at both companies, follow the stability and growth, FEDEX is a good choice..

 

[JethroF15]

My vote is.... FedEx.:beer:

 

[firstthird]

A thought on the pax/freight asusmptions. It seems that the accepted wisdom is that UPS/Fedex have it made forever and a day. Very likely. But, consider this scenario. There are other smart businessmen in the world besides Fred Smith and the UPS trucking guys. I suspect that someday a third or fourth company will make a real go at the cargo side of flying. DHL is huge everywhere but North America (or so I'm told) and made/is making an attempt to compete here. UPS/Fedex have been riding a comparative gravy train. A Soviet Union/USA kind of thing, watching each other, tit for tat (you buy Kinko's, I'll buy Mail Boxes Etc. looks like Fedex got the best of that deal). If and when a third or fourth competitor enters the market with a junior workforce, new planes, no DB pension (you know like so many of the LCCs, one of which I work for) it may cause a seismic shift in the cargo industry. As in, contracts up for renegotiation, etc.

A positive about SWA (besides being a place that I can see myself still flying in 20+ years and being happy about it), we've survived the cutthroat pax competition so far. The fight is never over and we've got our eye on costs. But competing against and surviving amongst 20+ carriers, all trying to make money, undercut the other guy, etc. That means we are lean and a survivor. Not saying that Fedex or UPS are not lean, just that it really hasn't been proven in the Darwinian contest that is the pax airlines. As long as Fedex and UPS have similar costs and stay more reliable/cheaper than US postal, they have a good thing.

The big problem with my pet theory is that cargo entails a HUGE up front cost to get the storefronts, trucks, drivers, space at 200+ airports. Whereas pax carriers can enter the market with 3 planes and 2 airports. Can't do that in cargo so it will take a Richard Branson, the 'Easy' guy, or a serious effort by DHL to enter the market. But, there is money to be made and that means people are looking at ways to make it.

Short version. Cargo has a good thing with the Fedex/UPS duality that may not last forever. SWA has survived and thrived in one of the most capital killing industries ever invented by man (knock on wood, so far).

 

[Echopapa]

Take the first open training slot and don't look back.

 

[scoreboard]

what he said.

 

[psysicx]

Roll the dice.

 

[HoursHore]

In the immortal words of that modern day sage Cosmo Karamer:

KRAMER: Now what does the little man inside you say? See you gotta listen to the little man.

Also, what ever allows the easiest commute.

 

[jtmpilot]

,, you know whats gonna make you happy, " if you enjoy your job youll never work a day in your life"
famous quote by my grandfather.

When is the real estate market in NOVA gonna pick up???????

PS im using my friends screenname to post this>>>>>>

 

[K-Mart]

Dude, if you have to ask, don't come to SWA. Not slamming just an observation. My best buds love Fedex, if you don't like 7 legs in a day, go for Fred. If you like working with people, go SWA.

Best advice out there. People are fun and it really isn't that bad as a pilot dealing with them. A lot better than what the Flight Attendants have to deal with.

Like fuel costs and the pax business, frieght can and will have its problems down the line. One of them is the international cargo side. If a country, say China, decides to nationalize it's business, then guess what? There goes the cargo contract. Short of being a truck driver for UPS, cargo may not be a safe bet. Just my thoughts. Good luck.