Family members working for UPS

[TheBaron]

I too am a first generation pilot. My father is far removed from the UPS airline operation in his office at Corporate in ATL. No way he could ever be my boss or be in a position to effect my job. I'm still SOL until he retires under the current (old) policy.

“No-Nepotism rule” good or bad? What do you think?

I might be misunderstanding the whole nepotism (or is it no-nepotism?) rule but I don’t think it’s there to eliminate the risk of your Dad ever being your boss. Rather, it is in effect to avoid the risks of your Dad “pulling some strings” to get you hired just because he’s in a position of power.

FedEx guys please do not take this as a slam on your company because I sincerely think it’s a great company. However, wouldn’t you say that maybe the nepotism rule at UPS has helped to keep their work force a little more diverse? I don’t necessarily mean gender or even race diverse but rather “background-diverse.” I mean at UPS they’re hiring civilians from part 121, part 135 and part 91 backgrounds AND also pilots from all branches of the military. Most of my friends who went to FedEx tell me that civilian guys seem to be a tiny, tiny minority in most classes. Again, nothing wrong with that but maybe a “nepotism rule” at least diminishes the risk of creating a “good-ole-boy” network? You know: "...I'll help your son get on if you help mine..." etc...

I might be totally wrong and am hoping for a debate without pissing anyone off.

At one of the job fairs a few years back, Kit Darby’s assistant (can’t remember her name - tall lady with black hair) was talking to some military pilots and was trying to help them out with making "the right" decisions. I remember she told them during one of the breaks that at FedEx the ratio of military versus civilian pilots was more than 5 times higher than at UPS!? Don’t know where she got those numbers and don’t know if they are correct, but surely most people seem to agree that percentage-wise FedEx has way more military pilots in their ranks than UPS does? Once again, I personally do believe that they definitely “earned” their positions because as the civilian guys (I am one of them) worried about getting furloughed, the military guys worried about being shot down.

Like I said, I’m very supportive of military pilots, I am just saying that maybe the nepotism rule is the reason why UPS seems to be hiring many more civilian pilots, and thus keeping it more diverse when it comes to their flying backgrounds?

What do you think?

The percentage of our military pilots that have a blood relative working at FedEx is pretty small when you look at a pilot group numbering above 4800. While there is definitely a "good ole' boy" network for military pilots, I don't think our pro nepotism policy has much, if any, effect on our skewed employment numbers. Not bashing the military guys, just pointing out the facts.

 

[⌐ FLYER]

Is it possible that it is that small “percentage of military pilots that have a blood relative working at FedEx” who have created the "good ole' boy" network for military pilots? In other words, let’s say you work for FedEx and so does your dad who's also a check airman and you have tons of friends from your guard unit you’d like to help out. All you need to do is “forward” a list of “good guys” to your dad and he’ll take care of it for you.

After all, if the 5-1 ratio of military vs. civilian at FedEx and UPS is true, there has to be a better reason to that than the recommendation letters?

It is true that you need at least 3 online recommendations at FedEx, but in reality you need several very good recommendations at UPS too. Only recently have pilots been called for interviews at UPS without any recommendations, majority of them had some heavy jet experience.

“At UPS recommendations are great, but you can still get hired without them.”

True but they are a tiny minority and a fairly new phenomenon. Still does not explain the huge mil. vs. civ. ratio difference amongst the two airlines.

 

[capt. megadeth]

I might be misunderstanding the whole nepotism (or is it no-nepotism?) rule but I don’t think it’s there to eliminate the risk of your Dad ever being your boss. Rather, it is in effect to avoid the risks of your Dad “pulling some strings” to get you hired just because he’s in a position of power

What do you think?

Here's what I think.....

How would this be different than the current UPS practice of "if you have a buddy in management, you have a better shot at a call for an interview than someone that doesn't know someone in management"?

That's what I think of the nepotism rule.

 

[⌐ FLYER]

Weird, I posted a reply yesterday and I even edited it, and now it doesn’t show at all, as if I'd never written it? I’m not sure what’s up?

We’ll see how much I remember from my earlier reply…

Basically, I agree with you however, very recently a friend got an interview with just one online recommendation. It came from an IOE captain, line guy and not management. So maybe they value all check airmen recommendations more than coming from “regular” pilots? And since the majority of management pilots are check airmen they tend to have more “pull?” And if that is the case, I’d venture to say check airmen have more “connections” at most airlines.

I am still wondering if the nepotism rule has at least slightly “diminished” the “good ole’ boy” network? Because if not, why is the military to civilian ratio so drastically different between the two airlines? According to the AirInc lady military pilots' ratio is at least 5 times higher at FedEx than at UPS (remember RATIO not the number of military pilots). Is the difference this large on purpose or are there other reasons to that?

 

[PositionandHold]

Why don't you just not check the box that asks if you have a family member that works for them? If you're brother is independent, and assuming that you don't have a wildly uncommon last name, how would they figure this out?

 

[⌐ FLYER]

Why don't you just not check the box that asks if you have a family member that works for them? If you're brother is independent, and assuming that you don't have a wildly uncommon last name, how would they figure this out?

Well, if they EVER do find out, even months, or years later - you're history. They take honesty VERY seriously!

 

[PositionandHold]

Why don't you just not check the box that asks if you have a family member that works for them? If you're brother is independent, and assuming that you don't have a wildly uncommon last name, how would they figure this out?

Well, if they EVER do find out, even months, or years later - you're history. They take honesty VERY seriously!

"I thought he drove a FedEx truck."

 

[⌐ FLYER]

"I thought he drove a FedEx truck."

Huh? Isn't this a thread about UPS's nepotism rule? Fedex doesn't have the rule. What am I missing?

...Right after I posted the reply I think I got it - it was a joke. Sorry extra slow today...