Is it worth it for UPS, Fedex?

[Habib]

I would like to know what the consensus is about sticking it out in freight in your younger years, and moving up through the ( Cessna, Metro, Falcon, etc…) freight line of aircraft, with no 121 time and hoping to go to UPS/ FEDEX?

How much weight does UPS/ FEDEX put in the fact that you have flown freight, had crummy schedules, and flown beat-up aircraft?

Would they rather hire someone in freight or passenger?

How much does the lack of 121 time hurt?

How much does the lack of crew time hurt? ( Obviously I know that if you got to a jet flying cargo, you would have a crew.)

I mainly wonder if going to the regionals is the way to go, or stick it out and get in a metro and build some PIC time this century.

Thanks

 

[wil]

When I was flying into the SDF hub subcontract for UPS I asked that very question. I was an FO on the Shorts and was offered an upgrade class date. After getting to know some of the crews (I was in the cafeteria 4 nights a week ) the general concensus was skip the upgrade and go to the Regionals for the 121 time. So, 3 years later I'm a Capt at ASA and glad I made the jump when I did. I'm still looking at the freight companies down the road when I cross the 1000 PIC mark and hiring resumes. I think having night freight and 121 experience would make you very competetive. All the best in your search- Wil

PS- I was flying the Shorts 360 and thought that since the regionals had flown them I could make the jump and bypass the regional step but even during the boom very few (read maybe 1 or 2 who had connections) ever made it to the majors.

 

[Habib]

Is that the only way?

Does anyone else have another take on that???
I think a lot of Young, Dumb, pilots would like to know.
Thanks

 

[Goose17]

another option...

Military.

 

[NightFlyer]

Habib,
It doesn't really matter how you get your 1000 turbine PIC. We have pilots from every background so the key is to get the minimums and have someone write a recommendation for you. Once you get the interview they already know that you can fly an airplane so your attitude and how you present yourself will get you the job. In my new-hire class we had military, commuter, corporate, and FedEx feeder pilots. One background is not favored over another so you just need to get your time. Good luck.

NightFlyer

 

[FDXBoxTrower]

Dear Night Flyer if you are talking about Fedex I believe you should mention what is the ratio of new hired between military and civilians ?
Checking the classes from the last year I see that out of 10 new hired 9 are military(sometimes 8) and 1 is civilian(sometimes 2). The civilian(let me make an observation that are not too many) have different background(121 or 135 or 91). Daaa!.....where else could they pick up their time?
So much for diversity?!

 

[Spur]

Checking the classes from the last year I see that out of 10 new hired 9 are military(sometimes 8) and 1 is civilian(sometimes 2).

Where are you getting your info?? I have yet to find a description of the background of each newhire at FedEx available for public view. Anyway, I do have the info for my class:

25 Total
11 military only
6 military and civilian
8 civilian only

Not quite 9:1

 

[NightFlyer]

There are a lot of military pilots here so they tend to recommend other military pilots therfore we have more military guys than civilian. If you meet the mins and have a recommendation then your background does not matter. It's all about networking. My background is civilian and I had two recommendations, one from a civilian pilot and another from a former military pilot. So who cares about the ratio, just get your time and recommendation and hang tight. Good luck to ya.

NightFlyer

 

[flybrowntails]

I can only speak of my exp.: I flew night freight (PIC/SIC) subcontract for the major cargo carriers. I then went and flew for a 121 carrier (jet PIC/SIC). During my training class at brown I discovered the class was divided about 50/50 or 60/40 civ./mil. 80 to 90 % of the civ. had flown freight in the past--either piston, or turbine. (Of the Civ. new-hires 90%+ (not all) had 1000 PIC turbine) Based on my class and this isolated stat., I would say having some exp. in the freight operation would give you an advantage with brown. (how much??--more info would be needed)

I hope this helps.

 

[P3tarbaby]

My interview group at Fedex consisted of:

1 Military (me)
1 former military US Air furloughee
1 ASA pilot - no military
1 NW Airlink pilot - former Pro Football player
1 America West pilot - no military

We all are in the pool and all of us had internal recommendations, so keep building time and network with folks at the company you want to work at.

 

[PurpleTail]

IMHO...

Habib-

The number one thing you need to worry about is building Turbine PIC (whether turbo-prop or jet) as fast as you can. That is what is going to open doors for you at FedEx, UPS or anywhere else for that matter.

I was hired at FedEx 2 years ago with a civialian corporate pilot background. No previous cargo jobs, little night and no 121 experience. I had a lot of turbo prop and corporate jet (91 ops) PIC time and I have a lot of personality to sell myself.

There are a lot of military pilots here but, as you know in aviation, TIMING is everything. After FedEx was awarded the postal contract in early '01 they needed to hire @500 pilots fast to meet the demand. There was a small window of about three to four months were the cil/mil new hires was split nearly 50/50, thats when I got hired. As you know 9/11 happened, hiring slowed and it went back to 80/20 ratio favoring mil pilots.

This industry is 80% timing, 10% luck and 10% skill. Since timing is sooo important, you have to make sure you meet everyones min. requirements when opportunities arise and the toughest one to meet is the turbine PIC. Also, always try to meet at least one pilot at a company and get a LOR, very helpful.

My advise is go where ever you can upgrade the fastest to PIC and build you total time.

Best of Luck

 

[Habib]

What About Crew Time?

Do you think it would be more helpful to stay somewhere that you can build Multi-Turbine PIC Single Pilot soon, or go somewhere that you can start getting some crew time, and somewhere down the road in a few years get the PIC time.

Thanks for the help.

 

[PurpleTail]

CRM is pretty important these days but that has a lot to do with a companies internal training department and how much you read up on the subject. Crew time will come as you progress on to larger aircraft.

Again, worry about building turbine PIC no matter what you have to do to get it. Everything else will fall into place.