FedEx and UPS schedules - The lowdown

[PCL Flt-ops]

Can some pilots from FedEx and UPS please provide info on what the typical schedules are like.

I'm interested in:

-Min days off per month
-Max days off per month
--Average days off per month (***Most important question***)
-Amount of days on / followed by amount of days off
-What is the typical night and/or day of flying.... how many legs, etc.

 

[de727ups]

I would say the average junior schedule is a series of 4 on, 3 off, 3 times, in 28 days. If you are more senior, it's 5 or 6 on, every other week. There are little or no "one report" trips, where you fly 12 days in a row and have the rest of the month off, on the domestic side. You can get that if you fly international, though, and have the seniority for it. What it really boils down to is, one way or another, they are gonna get 12 days in 28 out of you. The more junior you are the more reports you will have. Junior guys will have three reports in that 12 days.

If you are on an international fleet type...you have a better chance of a long block on, long block off, schedule. If you live in base, you could fly turns and be home every day but you'll still be working your 12 in 28. The only real difference is reserve duty where you get fewer days off. Reserve tends to go junior. You either get 10 or 12 days off on reserve...I forget since I haven't had to do it in about 13 years...

There is some day flying on some fleets, but I think it tends to be senior. The 727 has no day flying....in fact, it's starting to have no flying and that's why I'm leaving it....hehe.

Another weird thing about UPS schedules is that what should be a junior trip might go senior if the person lives in that city. For example, I'm looking forward to Spokane layovers with three reports in 28 days....not something most guys would want to do. It's a great deal for me, though, since that's where I live.

If you're senior, you can pretty much get two legs a night...in and out of the sort. Junior guys get stuck with four legs a night. I'd guess it's about a 50/50 split on how many trips have more than two legs. I know, on the 727, it's almost all two legs a night.

 

[switchbiatch]

WELL AT FEDEX ON RESERVE WE HAVE 4 WEEK MONTHS AND SOME 5 WEEK MONTHS. IN A 4 WEEK MONTH MIN DAYS OFF IS 13 AND 5 WEEK MONTHS IS 16. AS A FORMER PCL DRIVER I AM A LOCAL, AND I BID RESERVE LINES SO IF THEY DO NOT USE ME ON MY ON CALL DAYS USUALLY BY 8AM (WHEN i HAVE- A -RESERVE PERIOD WHICH IS MIDNIGHT TO NOON)I HAVE THE REST OF THE DAY OFF. SINCE I HAVE BEEN HERE THIS MONTH IS THE MOST I HAVE WORKED. I USUALLY END UP WORKING ONLY ABOUT 6-9 OF MY RESERVE DAYS SO I AM HOME ALOT. BID LINES VARY, SOME WILL BE 5 ON THEN 4 OFF ALL MONTH, AND SOME WILL ALSO HAVE ALL THE RESEVE DAYS IN ONE BIG GROUP ALLOWING YOU TO HAVE 13 TO 16 DAYS OFF IN A ROW. IF YOU GET YOUR DAYS OFF AT THE END OF ONE MONTH AND THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT, BOOM 25 TO 30 OFF IN A ROW. AND THE VACATION IS LIKE A POT OF GOLD, I HAD 8 DAYS VACATION IN NOVEMBER AND TURNED IT INTO ONLY WORKING 2 DAYS LAST MONTH.

THE OTHER PART THERE IS NO TYPICAL FLYING ON RESERVE, YOU MIGHT DO A EARLY MORNING OUT AND BACK, OR LAUNCH YOU TO A CITY STAY ALL DAY THEN COME BACK LATE AT NIGHT, OR DEADHEAD YOU TO WHO KNOWS WHERE TO OPERATE A FLIGHT. ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT IT IS DIFFERENT AND THERE ARE A BUNCH OF GREAT GUYS AND GALS THAT WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU ESPECIALLY THE EX-TIGERS , BUT THERE ARE ALSO ALOT OF WELL, THE BEST I CAN DESCRIBE IT IS DI*KS, THAT MAKE FLYING SO UNENJOYABLE YOU JUST COUNT DOWN THE MINUTES TIL THE TRIP IS OVER. 9E WAS MORE LAID BACK AND EASY GOING BUT FEDEX TREATS US ABOUT 2 MILLION TIMES BETTER.

 

[SNIZ]

Bases?

Where are the UPS bases? Thx.

 

[de727ups]

UPS bases

Louisville is the big one. Smaller bases in Ontario, CA and Miami are only for 757/767. I'd say the well over half of the pilots at UPS are commuters and don't live in their domicle. If I went based on pilots I know personally, I'd say it's darn near 95 percent commute, but I tend to bid lines that are favored by commuters.

 

[Mr Zog]

PCL Flt Ops,

FedEx has a 4 week schedule (8 times) and 5 week schedule (4 times). This is because the schedules are built beginning on Monday to accomodate the beginning of the business week. On a 4 week schedule the min days off is 13 days off and the guarantee pay is 70 hours with average pay around 73 hours for a line holder. On a 5 week schedule the min days off is 16 days and the guarantee is 89 hours with average pay around 93 for a line holder. These figures are give or take an hour.

The schedules depend a lot on the airframe. The 727 and Airbus basically do mostly domestic flying. However, in both you do have the opportunity to fly internationally (727 in So. America and the Airbuss in Europe and Pacific). But, basically the "hub-turn" night-flying schedule is week on and week off. However we do have a tremendous amount of day flying which has a variety of scheduling opportunities. The MD-11 has everything as far as scheduling diversity. It has the week-on and week-off hub-turns, day or night out and backs, 8-12 day international trips, or 3-5 day domestic trips.

As far as the typical flying (in the domestic system) for Fed Ex. For the "hub-turn" during the night you may fly one or two legs into Memphis, sit for 2 to 3 hours, and then fly one or two legs out. I don't think we do any 3 legs in or out of MEM at night, but I have not looked at the 727 bidpack in quite some time. At Memphis there is also a day sort. This sort is almost as big as the night sort. For this flying you have out-and-backs from Memphis, which I guess is a good deal for people living in Memphis. Basically, you would take off around 3 or 4 in the morning from Memphis (fly the outbound from the Night sort), go to the out station (PHL, EWR, DFW, ORD, MCO, etc), sit for a few hours, and then fly back to Memphis. Home by noon. Or you can take off out of Memphis at around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, fly to the out station, sit for a few hours, and fly back to MEM. Home by midnight. Right now at FedEx the pilot schedules are very diverse and offer a great deal or options. Good if you are senior. There are a lot of different types of flying available. To categorize it is very difficult. I hope this gives you a bit of an idea of the flying (at least domestically). Also, keep in mind the same thing that goes on in MEM also happens at IND, only on a little smaller scale.