Fed Ex Pool

[profile]

Pilots sell their vacations back because it essentially pays the same as flying a 7 day trip at time and a half.

 

[profile]

Should have specified that the above applies to selling back a 7 day vacation.

 

[Goose17]

Spoke with Kim today again

Spoke with Kim today again... passing along the info...

She said the Chief pilot still has to confirm the February classes, but should VERY soon. She will be notifying the remaining poolies scheduled for Feb classes later this week or early next week.

As for when the application window would open again... She said they are planning on resuming interviews towards the end of Feb. They will be opening the application web site (window) again shortly, so check daily.

Goose17

 

[Purple Haze]

Thanks Goose

I am crouched and ready (to pick up the phone).

"Eye of the tiger..." "Wax on--wax off..." "Wait for it..."

 

[AlbieF15]

In class, haven't even opened a 727 manual yet, but spent quite a bit of time listening to company indoc.

Flight ops projects a need for 250 or so this year (you've heard and seen posted similar numbers before).

At the same time, Chief of Flight Operations reminded us today one reason for success of FedEX is VERY conservative approach to business--to include aircraft purchases, hiring practices, etc. This guy (Mr Barber) was a VERY impressive speaker, and it is obvious why he is in the position he is in. His job is to maximize profits, preserve capital in down times, and not let the company get ahead of itself.

Between the "we want pilots now" crowd on the line and the "hmm....lets watch our requirements closely" policy, you get a lot of people (like pilot recruitment) who see the handwriting on the wall for future hiring but can't firmly offer a slot until training dollars are approved by higher mgt.

THE GOOD NEWS in all this is everyone seemed to agree hiring will continue. However, instead of saying "we will hire 250...turn on the tap" the some think FDX will hire 30, then another 30, and so on for potentially the rest of the year. I know it stinks to be in a pool without a firm class date, but now that I'm here I'm starting to gain a hint of why recruiters can't make you any firm promises. However--everything in indoc was positive about growth, senior pilot retirements, etc. As a point of reference, I was offered a class slightly less than 3 weeks after being notified--so warning times may be compressed.

Good luck to all.

Panel safe,

Albie

 

[RocketRob]

Can anyone help me out with some FedEx info? Trying to find contract, typical pilot schedules, first year pay, commuting etc.....info in general. I've searched the boards but I still haven't found what I'm looking for "U2". Also have many civilian types been recently hired and if so what was their background? LOR's types... etc.

Thanks for the help
FedEx wanna be

RocketRob

 

[XUSAir]

Thanks for keeping us poolies in the loop.
Keep it comming. Any word if they will drain the current pool before adding to it.

 

[flying]

A couple of questions for everyone.

-Anyway for anyone to verify the 50-70 poolies?
-Anyone stuck in this "Stop Loss" changing their avail dates?
-Is there a limit to the number of letters of rec you can have people write or just stick to the 3 names and numbers on the app?
-Any good books out there to brush up on the tests during the interview?


Good luck to all!!

flying

 

[Goose17]

One more rumor

I have a friend that is a sim instructor and he passed along another rumor that he said was circulating amongst the instructors;

He said that Fed Ex is planning on hiring 500-600 pilots this year!

Although this is a wonderful rumor, this is not consistent with Kim Daniels/Beverly Hiter who have told me that they are planning on hiring 250-300 this year. Who knows for sure...

I just thought I would pass the rumor along.

And as far as the number of poolies, like I said earlier, there are 89 total (as told to my same friend by the chief pilot).

Goose17

 

[flying]

That's a great rumor, hope it materializes!!! I didn't see the 89 number in your previous post, sorry about that keep up the steady flow of info. Fed Ex is where it is at!

flying

 

[AlbieF15]

For those interested....14 Jan class had 7 military, 1 civilian. Breakdown was 3 AF, 3 Navy, 1 Marine, and the civilian was a 10 year internal guy who was an maintainer as well as a civilian corporate/multiengine pilot. He apparently was very well respected in the mx field, and everyone at indoc seemed to know him from his previous life....ie...he wasn't hired off the street.

Jet history if anyone cares--AV-8, KC135/T-1, F15C (me), F15E (T38guy), F18, HC130, and S3.

I have no idea how/why we were at front of pool, or what rationale is used to offer class dates. When my class was originally cnx, Kim said she would try to offer classes in chronological order to original class and interview date, but there may be some exceptions.

We haven't heard anything in our class beyond the "flight ops would like 250 more guys..." line. 500 more sounds great, but nobody has mentioned those numbers to us.

Good luck and happy treading. Hope to see lots of you here soon.

Albie

 

[XUSAir]

poolie update

Latest from Kim, the Feb classes that were supposed to have 12 have been reduced back to 8. She also says there are about a dozen guys stuck in stop loss right now. I interviewed in Oct and a best guess class date is sometime in Apr. She says nothing in stone. Thats all I know.

 

[Goose17]

a little more info...

Just spoke with Kim,

She confirmed what XUSAIR said that the classes are back to 8 each in February. She also said she is still waiting on some drug test results on a couple people, but she plans on both the February classes poolies getting an overnight notification letter no later than this coming Wednesday.

Now on lookout for that beautiful Fed Ex truck!

Goose17

 

[Beaver]

? for Albie15.

. Is everybody on the panel of the 727 or was there any DC-10 awarded? How is the crash pad situation, would you suggest setting something up prior to a class date or is there enough availability to just show up a couple of days early and get settled in? Is a car needed or is there other transportation available. Any insite would be helpful. Keep the info coming from the inside and hopefully I'll see you in MEM soon.
Beaver.

 

[AlbieF15]

Beaver,

Plenty of crashpads...don't sweat it. You can pick a room for yourself at 250-450 or split one at about 175. Several guys offer places in houses...others split a 3 bedroom apartment with pool, workout rooms, etc. Most of the established crashpad land barons leave a computer with a DSN line as an incentive.

Only advice I offer is don't pair up with classmates...you'll live like rats on top of each other. Join an established crashpad where your roomies are mostly on the line. I've been here in a 6 person 3 bedroom place for about 2 weeks now...seen a max of 2 guys in the place besides me at any one time. Besides...you will be in training 8-5 most days, then add a meal here or there, a workout or trip to the mall, etc...and you aren't there much.

As for the 14 Jan class...all 727 FE slots. However...chance to upgrade to DC10 was offered to all of us with class dates in July. Some guys haven't firmed up decision, simply because they don't want to commit to 3 more months of training in middle of summer. However...most (including me) will probably take it. It may seem silly to train all of us for only 3 months (or less) on the line, but that is the R.O.E. and as the newest guys here I'm just thrilled to know there is already a chance to move up a bit so soon.

I'm not lapping up purple koolaid--they aren't offered any. Instead, I have just been developing a very good appreciation for how sound this business is and how professional everyone I've met in the flight department has been to our group. You will love it when you get here--keep the faith and keep the cell phone turned on. See you here soon.

Albie

 

[zulua320]

Got a call last night (yeah, Sunday night), with an interview offer for Feb 20-21. She said they're interviewing in Feb. for May-June classes. That would seem to imply that the current pool should be dry by mid-May.

Zulu

 

[RocketRob]

Zulu,

Would you mind passing on your qualifications that got you the interview? LOR's? etc.

Thanks

RocketRob

 

[zulua320]

RocketRob,

My numbers at the time of application:
Quals: ATP, FEw
Total Time: 2300 ish
Jet/Multi/>20K PIC: 2000 ish

1 LOR from a bro who'd been there < 1year.

Timeline:
Applied April 01.
LOR submitted (internal system) April 01.
Called June 01 with an interview offer July for a class in August.
Military availability not until April 02, so was told to expect a call Nov/Dec for a Jan/Feb interview and April/May class.

I figured that all bets were off post 9-11, but it looks like they only slipped 1-2 months.

Hope this helps. Good luck in the hunt.

Z

 

[bestdad]

I interviewed last April with FedEx, made it through the sim and interview, and received pretty good feedback at the interview. I am military with good record etc. I was very surprised to receive a turn down letter 3 weeks later. I heard later from friends on the inside that about the time I interviewed they got the wild idea that they were hiring too high a percentage of interviewees.

Anyway, I was told that I could reapply in a year. Anyone know the best way to do this? My profile is still online, what else do I need to do?

Thank for any helpful input.

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

Good luck, Zulu!

 

[Goose17]

no news

Well,

Wednesday has come and gone and I didn't get the letter yet.

Anyone else getting notified for Feb yet?

Goose17

 

[UM#1]

Not to interrupt you guys and get off the topic ,but I have a questions for you FedEx guys. I've had my stuff in for a little while and was wondering if anyone gets hired without a recommendation letter from a fedex employee or would a recommendation letter from someone other than a fedex pilot be helpful? or what is the trick to getting the interview?
thanks,
steve

 

[profile]

At least one, preferably 3 letters of recommendation from FedEx pilots. Flight management, etc., are obviously good, other (non-pilot) employees are less valuable. People that recommend you from other companies are nice but won't help you get an interview.

 

[UM#1]

Thanks profile, thats what I figured and Im hopin to secure at least 1 in house reco. Let me bother you with one more question if I may, I've noticed that you are a FedEx pilot and I was wondering what are some of the things that you really like about working there, besides the usual stuff that us outsiders would say, but some things you can really only appreciate from actually working there?

 

[profile]

Well, there are a few things:

1. Less security hassle when operating our own flights

2. A much wider variety of choices of types of flying and schedules than any other carrier, in quanities that most pilots can do what they like.

3. More extensive international route system than any other single carrier on the planet, bar none.

4. Extremely high caliber pilot group with varied and very impressive backgrounds, from the f/o I flew with recently who has a Masters in physics and a PhD in computer science to the retired former chair of the Joint Special Forces (retired as BG, all active duty), etc.

5. Very well maintained equipment. Unlike a pax carrier, if our airplane doesn't move the payload turns into "free-load", so a lot more emphasis on having everything working right, relatively. Not saying the pax carriers aren't safe, they are, but this is getting more into the dispatch reliability side of the equation.

That's a few, I'm sure there are more.

 

[Goose17]

Fed Ex truck COMETH!!!!

Well, today was the day and it was actually my birthday - how ironic!

I got official notification today that I will be an airline pilot when I grow up. I start with Fed Ex on Feb 18!!!!

WHOOPIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Goose17

 

[SentryIP]

Goose17,

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S ! That's a great birthday present.

 

[profile]

Goose,

Congrats, great b-day present!

If you go to the FedEx Pilots Assoc website, www.fedexpilot.org, you'll see a link for newhires on the public side. On that is a New Hire guide that you may find useful to learn the ropes. It's set up in the order of needing the info, but may be interesting to you now as well.

 

[Goose17]

Thanks

Thanks guys and thanks for the link profile. Currently tipping a couple of beers in celebration!

Goose17

 

[Goose17]

here is my info

By the way,

In case anyone was wondering... Here is my info.

Air Force pilot. Went on terminal leave June 28th 2001. Availability date listed as July 05, 2001. Met Beverly at the Air Inc conference in ATL and was told to expect a call in 2 weeks. Got the call a bit later and interviewed on August 29th and 30th. Waited and waited and finally got a letter dated September 24th welcoming me to the pool. Last but not least, got the official notification on January 24th with a job offer!

Goose17