FedEx LAX reserve geographics

[Kav]

FedEx guy here... but away on mil reserve activation for the past 1.5 yrs. Was curious if any of the FedEx guys who fly out of LAX could answer a question for me:

If you become senior enough to bid LAX and end up sitting reserve, how much time do you have to get to the base once you get called?

I'm living in San Diego now. But intend to move further North up the coast once I'm done with my mil gig. So, looking at how close I need to move to be able to make it to LAX on reserve.

Thanks!

Kav

 

[maddoggiestyle]

Take a peek at the LAX bidpack. I believe it's a 3 hour call out.

 

[vschip]

It is a 3 hour call out, covering LAX, ONT, and I think LGB. I have been called w/the scheduler saying "ok, its 1107z, need you there in a hour", I simply said I can't do that, nothing ever came from it.

 

[TonyC]

It is a 3 hour call out, covering LAX, ONT, and I think LGB. I have been called w/the scheduler saying "ok, its 1107z, need you there in a hour", I simply said I can't do that, nothing ever came from it.

BUR is also one of the co-terminal airports considered to be part of the LAX domicile.

(What, you ask, is a co-terminal airport? Good question. The Agreement says

CO-TERMINAL

Two or more airports in a specific grouping recognized as "co-terminals" in the
​

Official Airline Guide (OAG).​

I called OAG, and asked them what they recognized as "co-terminals" in the LAX area. They said, "huh?!" )
​

 

[PurpleTail]

LAX reserve...

I activated in Nov and have been bidding Reserve since Jan '04. There has only been 1 time so far that I have received a short notice call that was right at 3 hours. You will get mixed responses depending on who you ask but some guys are flying quit a bit each month and other haven't been flying hardly at all.

Personally, I am kind of tired of the LA lines and trips. Not much to choose from and the ones we have now are not that great, some really long duty days. Plus, LA RFO trips have gone from 16 to 12 and in July there are only 7! What the F??

The only airports you have to worry about are LAX and ONT. I have never heard of anyone from LA covering BUR and flight test crew mwmbers take the airplanes that come out of LGB.

 

[NightFlyer]

Can we even get a MD11 or a MD10 into BUR?



NightFlyer

 

[TonyC]

Can we even get a MD11 or a MD10 into BUR?



NightFlyer

You can get a deadhead out.

 

[Kav]

One last question...

Thanks for the info, everyone.

Sorry for sounding pretty lost here... but literally finished up my 727 SO IOE and was activated a week later... so very little experience with FedEx and all of the rules, since I've been playing with Uncle Sam since then and will be for a few more months.

I've been looking all through our contract to see where it references sitting reserve and reporting times... but I'm not finding it. Anyone out there that can point me in a general direction as to where the references are?

Gracias... in advance,

Kav

 

[Huck]

I have spent 2 years on the 727 panel, and just got a bid onto the DC10 panel.

It's true that I've been able to hold hard lines (the crap ones) since Dec 2002, and by jumping to the Deisel 10 I will be A reserve until I get back off it. But it's like others have said here: our good trips are the best, but our bad trips are incredibly bad - worse than I ever saw at the commuters or ACMI.

(Speaking of 24 hour layovers, my record is 5 in a row. By the fifth one, I was sleeping 3 hours in a row max. It took me 4 days at home to feel human again.)

And as for bidding your home town - it's like the sasquatch. Everybody's heard of it, but few have seen it. For me to hold the 72 panel in my hometown (MOB), I'd have to have at least 5 years seniority, AND the 4 guys who hold it now would have to bid off the seat. That's alot of pipe to lay, just for the off chance that the Airbus won't take it over by the time I can hold it. Then there's the chance you may get "optimized", like Birmingham - Grand Junction was.

I guess the attraction is the thought of 2 weekend layovers in your hometown every month. But more and more stations have Saturday and Sunday mail flying. Go into ops on a Sunday afternoon, and there's as many pilots there as Monday at midnight. So what you do is get into the outstation Saturday morning, then fly back Sunday morning for the noon sort, then back out, then leave Monday night. You get Saturday day there (after you wake up) and Monday day there, but your circadian rhythm's a pretzel.

I've finally decided to just bid for the money. I ain't got time to stay poor and hope the lifestyle gets better. Flying for Fred means great pay, great crews, great aircraft; but training is used as a disciplinary tool, lots of trips are quite painful, and be prepared to fly nights, but not every night, just enough to seriously mess with your body. 25% of us will medical out before 60 - that says it all....

 

[Goose17]

Kav,

Reserve information is covered in section 25.M

If you have any specific quesitons, drop me a line.

Goose17

 

[Kav]

25m .... thanks Bro.... appreciate it!

"Gutentag"... from Deutschland.

Kav

 

[AlbieF15]

Huck,

Brother...I'm not talkin' down to you here...

We have just ridden a 2 year no-hiring period. Now we are hiring. We just had a safety audit. How do you think they will view those day/night/day trips? When the company says "we have to OPTIMIZE or we will not be profitable", how far can they really go (see recent cash purchase of Kinkos, most recent quarter results, etc). Add contract negotiations and I see a lot of positive pressure to improve some lines.

Point is I think (and hope) we've seen the base of the curve. Even if you stayed on the panel (you won't have to...I know) your pay will go up a bit. You have been "paying dues", something a lot of postal wave guys more or less missed (maybe not all of it but some...). It is about to get better for you.

At the same time--some reality. We are an overnight freight company--which means somebody here is going to fly 0300-0600 or so. I hope it won't be 3 legs, but the legs will be flown by someone. More than likely, the guys who want bucks and want to upgrade soon will chase those lines. Guys who want stability in their town (the bigfeet you mentioned) or want to fly days will pay a price by staying senior and passing upgrades.

I fly with some of those guys regularly...TLH is senior is every seat. I figured out after about 2 weeks on the property I'd rather commute to ANC than wait 5 years for X and X to move on. Besides, who says they won't change the jet in the city anyway? If I were you, I'd forget MOB for a long time.

As for being happy--as a 2nd generation airline pilot you may have been looking for some glory that has past us by. Instead of worrying about us not being Pan Am Captains circa 1973, take a look at what we CAN have--a relatively secure income with enough time off to chase our other dreams. I gave up looking for "validation" in this job a while back. That doesn't mean I'm not a professional, it just means I don't let the airline pilot identity be all that defines me.

As for new hires at FDX--how do you keep from getting whipped? Well...read KAV's posts for what I think works best. If you can keep a mil gig on the side to opt out of A reserve here and there to go make O-3 or O-4 pay flying for Uncle Sam, your first (and second) year will be a lot less painful.

Std disclaimer--I may be wrong. But I think things are looking up here...