F D X v. S W A

[170B]

Have you seen the "romance" on the A&E show "Airline"? Now that is romantic. A guy trying to board that smelled so bad, the gate agent had to kick him off the plane. A bum trying to board who had no pants (or underwear) on. Obese people losing their $hit because they were just told they're going to have to buy 2 seats. Etc, etc, etc...........
You're absolutely right. I'm going to go pay for my own training and apply to get a taste of that "romance" you're touting. What was I thinking? I stand humbly corrected.

Malter 1...You are obviously wise beyond your years. Surely the results of years of experience flying the line at Fed Ex. You have "been there...done that!" You da man!

 

[Malter1]

Malter 1...You are obviously wise beyond your years. Surely the results of years of experience flying the line at Fed Ex. You have "been there...done that!" You da man!

You funny! I kid because I care.....

No, actually it is the result of months on the couch watching TV!

I thought you were just a "lurker" anyway? Welcome aboard. I expect more fight out of you Mister......

 

[active_herk]

Easier than you think. It's all about goods going from A to B. Buyer from supplier. Middle man always can get cut out. Seriously, the supplier don't care and the buyer will want it cheapest. In terms of our country putting a stop to it? Yeah right, I highly doubt Nike, Dell, etc... cares how the product gets here and that is the bottom line. A lot more pull with them and our politicians than FedEx. I'm not stirrring the pot and I am certainly not smart enough to think of it.

K-Mart, I think one of us is missing the point. You started talking about a country nationalizing its business. What does that have to do with a supplier and buyer deciding whom to use to ship? I agree that a supplier and buyer can choose what shipping service they want to use. That is what capitalism is all about. When a country decides to "nationalize" its business, I was taking it to mean that the country would take control of the business, and not allow other shippers to service their goods. This might be called protectionism. While it is not disallowed, if one country starts using a form of protectionism, then other countries will take whatever means necessary to counteract that stance; many times in the forms of tariffs or controls on goods. What I was trying to suggest is that a country can't unilaterally decide to force those types of controls without expecting some sort of retaliation, possibly severe. The country in question would be “shooting itself in the foot”.

Now for instance, lets say China did decide to “nationalize” their business, and they were going to ship stuff over here exclusively on their planes with their pilots. Once it gets to the US, is China also going to be able to dictate that “their” trucks and “their” truck drivers will take it from the dock to the distribution center and then on to the final customer? Or maybe they are going to send it in the US over “their” rail system. I’m sure they have “their” freight forwarder in place to get all the necessary red tape items taken care of to get the product released into the US. If not, you might be surprised to find out that the “cheap” air shipping costs get overridden by the many additional costs of getting the product to the consumer. The type of airfreight in this instance is called Airport to Airport, and there are actually quite a few companies that do it rather cheaply already. I’m not sure how much of this FedEx does, but I am sure it is not the vast percentage of our business. We focus on getting the product all the way to the consumer, so in effect WE bypass the middleman, which in turn saves money and enhances reliability.

You also said that Nike and Dell don’t care how their product gets here, and you may have a point, but I can guarantee they care deeply in the manner in which it arrives. By that I mean they want it where they want it and when they want it. Believe it or not, to these huge multinational corporations timing is everything in their supply chain management. Dell doesn’t have just one factory making their computers from scratch. They have literally dozens of suppliers all over the world moving parts everywhere they need to be, and on a schedule that is crucial to their business model. They can try shipping it the “cheap way” a few times, but if the stuff doesn’t make it in time, and production lines have to be shut down, do you really think they care that they saved a buck or two on shipping?

As a side note, just recently, I had one of our charter reps jumpseat on one of our aircraft, and I started talking with him regarding our charter operations. As many of the FedEx guys know, we subcontract out a great amount of our charter flying. According to the charter rep, if FedEx (management) had its way, ALL of our charter flying would be done exclusively on FedEx aircraft with FedEx pilots. They would do this because the company gets greater reliability when we do the flying, and at a greater value. So why don’t we? Because we are woefully understaffed in the airplanes and aircrews we need to fly our core business freight and charter work on top of that. Hopefully we are working towards rectifying that situation.

Finally, even if China (or however else) could do it better and cheaper, you never addressed where they are going to get all these pilots to fly all this freight so cheaply. Like I said before, China has a difficult pilot shortage problem now, and this problem is forecast to get much worse.

So to wrap up, I don’t think our company or any company can ever “rest on their laurels”. I also don’t pretend to assume that we can never be beaten out down the road, but I do think it would be extremely unlikely that a country could or even would “nationalize” it’s business as it appeared you suggested in your initial post. Then again, maybe its me who is missing the point.

 

[psysicx]

On the Intl side of Fedex isn't the take off times in the afternoon chasing the sun down? And do they have domestic schedules that end at 10 or 11 at night?

 

[Purpled]

On the Intl side of Fedex isn't the take off times in the afternoon chasing the sun down? And do they have domestic schedules that end at 10 or 11 at night?

I've seen both. But, as alluded to before, we've pretty much got it all. From the completely painful to the unbelievably awesome.

The best part is that what is ugly to you is desired by some, for one reason or another. Strange, but it works out well. You get stuff you consider to be good long before you think you should. Rhyme not intended. After about 6 months on the line, I never would have had to fly 'overnight' again...as long as I was ok with going to chitty cities or doing out and backs(sleeping in MEM everynight). Imagine how cool that would be if you lived there.

I am curious, though. Your two examples above, do you consider them good or bad?

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

Easier than you think. It's all about goods going from A to B. Buyer from supplier. Middle man always can get cut out. Seriously, the supplier don't care and the buyer will want it cheapest. In terms of our country putting a stop to it? Yeah right, I highly doubt Nike, Dell, etc... cares how the product gets here and that is the bottom line. A lot more pull with them and our politicians than FedEx. I'm not stirrring the pot and I am certainly not smart enough to think of it.

No flame intended but....

If it's such an easy business opportunity, why isn't someone like Atlas or Gemini taking all the lucrative international routes???

One reason is having cargo on the plane for delivery TO China. Not much simple airport to airport freight lying around. Retail delivery is what is making it all work. When someone wants to send a package to China for delivery they look to FedEx and UPS because they have the distribution network to get it to the customer. The total logistics solution is key and is at the heart of what makes FedEx and UPS a duopoloy. Expensive to properly set up and, once it's in place, it's hard to break in as a new player

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

Now for instance, lets say China did decide to “nationalize” their business, and they were going to ship stuff over here exclusively on their planes with their pilots. Once it gets to the US, is China also going to be able to dictate that “their” trucks and “their” truck drivers will take it from the dock to the distribution center and then on to the final customer?

Active Herk has got the info.

Let's say for a minute it is be possible for trucking in China to be nationalized. That was a real fear circa 1980's. But this is a new era and China is not going in that direction. They have been going the other way for years.

This would probably increase shipping costs for all manufacturing companies. More importantly, western companies might choose to build their factories in the Phillipines or India instead. I believe companies would try to avoid China over fear of nationalization and fear that the distribution network would be slow and unreliable. It would make China a less competitive home to business.

IMHO, nationalization of distribution networks is EXTREMELY unlikely.

 

[Bobby Orr 4]

It was a shame what happened to the Fedex crew over the South Pacific a few years ago. Lost the entire flight crew and the poor management guy was stranded on that island for years. I was happy to hear he made it off and befriended a volleyball.
Congrats on your decision you have to make. When I was hired at SWA someone asked me if I was happy to get out of my regional I was working at or because I was hired at SWA. I heard about what a great outfit SWA is but was initially happier to get out of regional. I had first hand experience how bad my current job was. Now that I have tasted the pudding I am thrilled to be at SWA.
I guess my advice is do not pay attention to SWA guys who are down on Fedex who have never flown there and Fedex guys down on SWA who have never flown there.
Obviously I would encourage you to choose SWA but I am biased. Good luck.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Active Herk has got the info.

Let's say for a minute it is be possible for trucking in China to be nationalized. That was a real fear circa 1980's. But this is a new era and China is not going in that direction. They have been going the other way for years.

This would probably increase shipping costs for all manufacturing companies. More importantly, western companies might choose to build their factories in the Phillipines or India instead. I believe companies would try to avoid China over fear of nationalization and fear that the distribution network would be slow and unreliable. It would make China a less competitive home to business.

IMHO, nationalization of distribution networks is EXTREMELY unlikely.

FedEx's success or failure will come from thier effectiveness is the political global market place....

Recall FedEx success was determined by Fred's ability to lobby congress to change the law.

 

[Purpled]

HEY QUIET,

What did you decide?

 

[Quiet Flight]

I'm actually still mulling it over.

However...

This was kind of a loaded thread from the start. My buddy (FDX 727 F/O) and I were discussing my good fortune when I mentioned that I might post a thread on flt info to get some input. We both then thought that I was begging to be called out as gloating and a 40 page collective effort diatribe would follow explaining in excruciating detail why FDX/SWA sucks. I called total thread meltdown at the bottom of page 1. He said it would make page 2. We were WRONG!

I am thrilled with the thought provoking, concise and genuine feedback the thread has generated. I don't know if it's made the decision easier or tougher but there are plenty of valid points and a few angles I hadn't considered as well. Plenty of guys (and gals?) from both camps have given great first person observations that will help me make this huge decision. If nothing else, it will be a much more informed decision. As a result of the whole thing I'm actually kind of proud to be associated with (even if it's electronically) such a good group of aviators. (I think threads like these are the spirit behind the idea of something like Flightinfo.com) In the end half of you will be co-workers and that seems like a pretty good thing. Now you might all be closet axe murderers or Ashlee Simpson fans, but your good advice and good wishes have given me a little bit of hope for our often beleaguered profession. There were only a couple of shots and some mild hijacking but it has held together nicely overall.

Purpled - I've given myself until dinner tomorrow night to decide. I'll PM you and let you know how it turns out. Ha Ha

In any event...as long as I can help it, you're all welcome in the jumpseat anytime. Unless you're Malter or one of his Air Force "buds".

Just Kidding...:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

And one more thing - PURPLED gets the spirit award for the thread. That guy's clutch! :beer:

Now should we all hold hands and sing Kumbaya???

 

[Purpled]

Well, if you still want to work at either of these places after the recent threads here, then you have what it takes to make it anywhere.

Again, good luck...tough choice.

 

[170B]

You funny! I kid because I care.....

No, actually it is the result of months on the couch watching TV!

I thought you were just a "lurker" anyway? Welcome aboard. I expect more fight out of you Mister......

Hey, I'd like to post more but something keeps getting in the way...what could it be...oh, yea - a JOB and a life! enfoy your I2101 this week and turn off the damn TV...it's all lies anyway! You know the truth about us, don't ya!

B

 

[GuppyWN]

If you decide to come to SW then welcome aboard brother! If you go to FedEx then Fukc Off!

Gup

 

[Quiet Flight]

If you decide to come to SW then welcome aboard brother! If you go to FedEx then Fukc Off!

Gup

See!!!! This is the well thought out kind of stuff I was talking about!!!

Sweet!:beer: