Fed Ex/UPS/Cargo lifestyle

[SirFlyALot]

I'm hoping you guys out there who work for Fed Ex, UPS, et al can shed some light on what a typical month is like as a junior pilot and then what you can expect as you gain seniority (and as your body ages). Here are some of the questions I'd like to get some more info on:

How many days per month are you gone from home? Is it true that you typically only work seven days per month? Are you paid to commute? Is there any kind of pseudo-home-basing program? How significant is the advantage of living at your domicile? How difficult is commuting from the coasts? How many days per month do you spend commuting? How fast is the upgrade from SO to FO to CA? What is a typical trip like? How old are the guys you typically fly with? What proportion of your flying is done at night? Are you really as tired as people claim you guys are? Do you think the kind of flying you do has taken a toll on your body/mind/spirit? How long are you gone at a time? How many hours do you fly in a month? How long are you on reserve? Do you get called much on reserve? Do you love it/hate it or are you indifferent toward your job? How much money do you actually have deposited in your account every two weeks from your job? Do you know of anyone who has quit the job because they didn't like it or something better (in their mind) came along? Is the job just a paycheck to you or do you look forward to going to work? How are relations with management? What advice would you give someone trying to decide between passenger airlines, cargo carriers, or something else entirely? If you could do it over, would you do anything differently? Any other insights that you feel are important?

So...there are my questions. I'm pretty confident somebody will find some way to flame me for them, but they're simply honest questions. I'd love it if some of you Fed Ex, UPS, Astar, ABX, etc guys could chime in and give me your answers to some or all of them.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Mr Zog]

I'm hoping you guys out there who work for Fed Ex, UPS, et al can shed some light on what a typical month is like as a junior pilot and then what you can expect as you gain seniority (and as your body ages). Here are some of the questions I'd like to get some more info on:

How many days per month are you gone from home? Is it true that you typically only work seven days per month? Are you paid to commute? Is there any kind of pseudo-home-basing program? How significant is the advantage of living at your domicile? How difficult is commuting from the coasts? How many days per month do you spend commuting? How fast is the upgrade from SO to FO to CA? What is a typical trip like? How old are the guys you typically fly with? What proportion of your flying is done at night? Are you really as tired as people claim you guys are? Do you think the kind of flying you do has taken a toll on your body/mind/spirit? How long are you gone at a time? How many hours do you fly in a month? How long are you on reserve? Do you get called much on reserve? Do you love it/hate it or are you indifferent toward your job? How much money do you actually have deposited in your account every two weeks from your job? Do you know of anyone who has quit the job because they didn't like it or something better (in their mind) came along? Is the job just a paycheck to you or do you look forward to going to work? How are relations with management? What advice would you give someone trying to decide between passenger airlines, cargo carriers, or something else entirely? If you could do it over, would you do anything differently? Any other insights that you feel are important?

So...there are my questions. I'm pretty confident somebody will find some way to flame me for them, but they're simply honest questions. I'd love it if some of you Fed Ex, UPS, Astar, ABX, etc guys could chime in and give me your answers to some or all of them.

Thanks in advance!!

Well I have nothing better to do (surf is flat). I am not going to flame (at least yet), it is just every two weeks the same post comes up.

FedEx:

4 week bid month: min days off is 13
5 week bid month: min days off is 16

Doing the math, that is a bit more than seven days a month if you fly a full schedule. Now, of course, the more senior lines have more days off (pretty neat concept, huh). But seven day months are a bit atypical, not saying it can't happen if you get bumped from trips, but don't count on it.

Paid to commute? Are you kidding me...... One caveat, if you have deadhead lines, you can use the cost of the tickets the company would have paid for to get to and from work. Example, MEM based first officer living in Denver is awarded double-deadhead line to LAX. Now, he is not going to jumpseat to MEM to fly commercial to LAX, kinda stupid you think. So the company has allowed him the option to commercial from DEN to LAX using the money they would have spent on the tickets. With me so far. No, you do not get to keep any extra money the company would have saved on the tickets. This is called deviating. If you deviate, you must get to the place your trip starts and check in with scehduling at least 8 hours prior to your flight or it is your a@$. That is the "kinda-psuedo-home base program" you refering to.

Typical trip? Too many to mention. VERY DIVERSE FLYING. I REPEAT, VERY DIVERSE FLYING. Guaranteed you can find something you like.

Significance of living in domicile? More lines that you can bid on (i.e. lines that aren't commuter friendly), plus the ability to sit reserve at home.

Difficulty commuting and days commuting? Depending on where you live, it is pretty easy commuting into and out of MEM via FedEx (unless you live in DEN or JAX, or anywhere that a lot of FedEx pilots live). If you are based out of ANC and commute, plan on losing one or two days at home for the commute.

How long are you gone at a time? FedEx has out-and-backs to 12 day trips, with everything in between.

How many hours do you fly a month? As little as possible (couldn't resist). Depends.

I know these aren't the answers you are looking for, but if you have a friend at FedEx and he has a few hours, ask him to go thorugh a bid pack with you. That is the easiest way to see the type of flying at FedEx. Trying to describe it in detail is IMPOSSIBLE. In short, there is flying for everyone: International (Europe, Pacific, and South America), Day and Night out-and-backs, week on and week off hub turns, etc. I personally, think no other airline can match the diversty of schedules at FedEx. PERIOD. Name another airline with 72 hour layovers in Sydney, Honolulu, or Paris? Granted, as a brand new hire in the Boeing the night hub turns from Wichita, Duluth, Harrisburg, Billings, etc are a bit trying on the body.

 

[Big Beer Belly]

Name another airline with 72 hour layovers in Sydney, Honolulu, or Paris?

At UPS, I've seen some 112 hr layovers in Singapore and Hong Kong ... had a few 96 hr ones in Honolulu also. <g>

I prefer my 4 day per month work average on reserve better. Last summer I worked 4 out of 100 days ... not all that uncommon ... nature of the business. My SWA buds fly more in 2 months than I typically do all year ... god bless those workaholics! <g> ... and NO ... we don't clean the cargo hold or scrub the lavs and we can drink all the bottled water our little bladders desire.

BBB

 

[psysicx]

Mr Zog is LAX senior?I know that a lot of people were unhaapy with the lines.

 

[FedExFumes]

QOL of FedEx and UPS is great overall. As a junior guy life can be tough at times, but I think that would be the case at any airline.

Middle seniority guys and above are flying their niche and loving it, whether that's pac rim, Europe, domestic lines, or reserve.

Overall your life will be fantastic flying for a freight outfit. You'll find your niche and dig in.

 

[Clyde]

QOL depends on what you want to do. Something I really like about Brown is the diversity and the choices in flying. If you prefer to work a large chunk of days on and enjoy a large chunk of days off, then international flying will allow you that. If you prefer more of a week on/week off schedule, than flying a domestic schedule will allow you that.

Basically, international flying gives you 12+ days off in a row each month. If you're reserve, count on working about 10 days a month, give or take a few. If you hold a domestic line, you should be home anywhere from 4 to 7 days off at a time, but you will only be gone 4 to 7 days at a time too.

There seems to be a little of everything for everyone here.

 

[psysicx]

Are the people who work 4 days every couple months on reserve and senior?

 

[Diesel]

another pointless question by psysicx

 

[Clyde]

Are the people who work 4 days every couple months on reserve and senior?

Good question. Depends, but it could mean senior or junior.

Domestically, I know some senior FO's and Captains on the 757/767 fleet that bid reserve and hardly fly. Or, they bid the lines that managers like to use for staying current or doing line checks and are always getting displaced.

On the junior side, this is possible too. On the MD-11, just about everyone I know (senior, junior, cpt, fo) flies very little, especially if you are on reserve. I can see this changing as more mad-dogs come onto the property.

As for the other fleets/domiciles, I'm not real sure.

 

[psysicx]

Thanks for the info.