Life Style At FedEx vs Pax

[Gorilla]

I did a total of perhaps 4 months of all-nighters at my pax airline early in my career. Never, never again. Lethal, horrible fatigue. That said, there are guys we call "vampires" that make it a career for whatever reason. If you can do it without harm, or like it, great.

For every ridiculous drunk/enraged passenger story, there's probably 10 "good ones" that never make this board.

For months I did Guatemala City. Every Wednesday or Thursday, it was the "baby express" coming back to the U.S. What happens is that dozens of eager American couples fly down the week prior, spend days with their adoptive Guatemalan baby, and after approval as good parents, they all come back at the same time. It's incredibly heartening to see these beaming parents with their babies getting ready to start their lives. You'd have to be one bitter dude not to get a kick out of it.

Flying CRAF. An incrdible experience. Pick them up at their small base. Watch as they load hundreds of machine guns into the cabin, and their palletized supplies below. Showng dozens of teenage Marines the Northern Lights, then the lights of Dublin as they rotated through the cockpit, as we coasted in over Ireland. The solemnity as we dropped them off at Frankfurt.

Doing long layovers in Zurich, Frankfurt, Paris, and London with flight attendants, as a large group, especially the international noobs.

I wouldn't trade these memories for anything, but boxes can be lucrative, quiet, and easy. There's good to both, I guess.

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

...this week, I've decided the best thing about FedEx is the ability to drop as many trips as you want and make your own dang schedule...

...fly enough to pay the bills and have some fun with my wife and kids while I'm young enough to enjoy it and them. When I'm 55 and the kids are in college (and my wife is becoming that old woman) I'll work as much as I need to....

...The ability to fly whatever schedule you want to build for yourself is the BEST thing about FedEx...

Lots of good points. I've been junior at another pax airline and flown the backside of the clock. It was only hard on me becuase it didn't mesh with the day open time trips.

SWA does not do that. PM's end 2200-0100 and AM lines start 0530-0830. Duty day 8 to 12 hrs. There are some voluntary middle of the night charters, but not many. They are hard to get.


Schedule is HUGE. The SWA schedule of little to no dropping is good, IMHO, because I can trip trade with the company to get the days off I need. Unless I want the weekend off and started with a weekend flying line. With a couple years seniority you can hold weekday lines and then trade into higher paying weekend flying if you want. Reserve at SWA is not the good deal it is at FedEx and UPS. rig is 6 "trips"/day and most lines average 7-8 "trips" a day. Bottom 10% of lines are 6.8 to 6.6 trips a day.

You want to fly extra the first 2 years to pay some bills? It's o.k. with SWA. Up to 100 hrs a month. Extra fly above your line is paid at 2nd year pay at SWA. Can't do much of that with FedEx. They only allow you to trade up about 12 hrs a month (heard from my Reserve buds) from your assigned line. ALPA negotiated rules. But you can drop your whole schedule at FedEx if there are enough reserves to cover it. Scheduling is pretty complicated at FedEx and you have to pick up extra flying from the appropriate "bank". Good luck.

Don't want to fly extra at SWA? Don't sign up for it. Go with your 16-17 days off a month. But you may get Jetway JA'd on Friday or Saturday once in awhile. Reroutes are not unusual either. Both offer extra pay, usually at a premium. No worries of reduced hiring due to increasing productivity at SWA. IMHO, We're running as productive as we possibly can right now

 

[sandman2122]

So you're saying there's little to no chance of dropping trips at SWA? That stinks.

 

[Networ-King]

Are you illiterate or just plain stupid? Re-read what I wrote. Until then, shut your trap!

I did re-read you post you f$%king tool..... your post insinuates that the trash haulers (working allnighters) are going to die sooner then pax haulers, because you guys supposedly "don't" fly at night? Stop drinking the blue koolaid and take a deep breath and then maybe things might be a little more clear. Man... you blue guys really have big chip on your shoulders now a days.....now alice get your arse back to those night transcons.......

simma dan na beeyyoottchhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

So you're saying there's little to no chance of dropping trips at SWA? That stinks.

Trip trade is what the company wants. But you can usually "Give away" a portion of your pairing to other pilots. Particularly effective if you split the paring in a big commuter city like St. Louis, Nashville, LA, Sacramento, Seattle.

There are also some who just want to "pick up" 1 or 2 days of flying starting and ending in domicile to turn their 3 day into a 4 or 5 day. Commuters like to commute as little as possible. This gives you the option of giving away a day from the beginning or end of one or more of your pairings.

So you can, conceivably, give away enough of your line to others to have a bunch of time off. Or you can then pick up some of the Lance Captain (senior FO line) pairings in giveaway. The Lances want to give away so they can pick up Capt trips in giveaway, open time, or JA.

Lots of folks at SWA like to fly near the monthly FAR limits. Must not be as hard on the body as night flying.

 

[CaptainMark]

Can you say WIDE BODY! That's where the money is and that's why we all go to work. Next time you're in Memphis take a look at the ramp. It's all wide bodies. Can you say 125K second year pay. Wide body Captain pay is what I want; you can have the fa's and the pax.

amen brother!

 

[FN FAL]

I ask this because I have never heard of an unhappy FedEx pilot.

Thanks!

I was walking through the employee lounge the other day and this FedEx pilot was sitting at a table with an mp3 player and headphones. His head was tilted back and his eyes closed. He was singing along to the music, which kind of reminded me of that Eddie Murphy "Roxanne" bit he did at the beginning of one of his movies and this was at 5:30 in the morning.

Sounds like a happy camper to me.

If people are happy, is there any reason to question why?

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

Can you say WIDE BODY! That's where the money is and that's why we all go to work. Next time you're in Memphis take a look at the ramp. It's all wide bodies. Can you say 125K second year pay. Wide body Captain pay is what I want; you can have the fa's and the pax.

Talk to some of the FedEX guys hired in 2001 and 2002 and ask them how long it took to get to Widebody FO. No, ask them how long it took to get out of the SO seat. (70K second year, 82K third year)

Now factor in that this period of MOAB's is unprecedented in FedEx's history. How long do you think this growth spurt is gonna last? You can't use 30 new hires to MD-11 FO as a frame of reference. That is like winning the lottery and will not last.

Factor in a meet and greet right now, 9 months to 1 year to interview, then 4 months to class, do you really think its a good bet to plan on 125K 2 years after hire? Widebody Captain? I'm betting 10 years at the soonest. Sure its a great job, but only if you're young when you start.

There is a possibility you'll almost be a SWA Captain in the time you upgrade to widebody FO considering a newhire would start at SWA a year or two before starting at FedEX. You'd definitely be an Airtran Captain.

 

[Flapjack]

FlyBoeingJets,

Hey, I'm glad that you like SWA so much. You have a great job. You should be so self-satisfied that you don't need to yap about what you think sucks about FedEx. I read your posts and you're not really very accurate. Pretty misleading to someone who is looking for real information. Leave it to the guys who actually work there, alright? You just sound jealous.

For the original poster who wanted to know about FedEx lifestyle, you are going to get a ton of different answers to that question from FedExers because there is a lot of different paths to follow, each one has a little different QOL. The perspective from each "niche" is a little different.

What do I like? Options. FedEx has 'em. Don't like working much? OK. Scheduling calls to Junior Assign? Say no thanks. Like working more? OK, fly it at time and a half (contract discussions aside here). Widebody FO in second year? Go for it - hundreds or people are doing just that, with many more to follow. It's no fluke. Just look at the steady increase in additional Buses and MDs. Couple that with retirements, and for a long time to come we are looking at nice upgrade times.

I'm not gonna talk it up any more than that - it's not good form. Suffice it to say that most folks who talk loudest about the horrors of being a FedEx pilot have never been a FedEx pilot...Take that into consideration.

 

[CaptainMark]

i was a widebody fo at 2nd year..widebody captain at 10th year...how long till a swa pilot makes widebody captain.....uh oh..no widebodies..yikes!

 

[sandman2122]

No matter how big or small, like my RV4, every plane has the same view out the "front office"..............

lets leave it at that.

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

FlyBoeingJets,

Hey, I'm glad that you like SWA so much. You have a great job. You should be so self-satisfied that you don't need to yap about what you think sucks about FedEx. I read your posts and you're not really very accurate. Pretty misleading to someone who is looking for real information. Leave it to the guys who actually work there, alright? You just sound jealous.

For the original poster who wanted to know about FedEx lifestyle, you are going to get a ton of different answers to that question from FedExers because there is a lot of different paths to follow, each one has a little different QOL. The perspective from each "niche" is a little different.

What do I like? Options. FedEx has 'em. Don't like working much? OK. Scheduling calls to Junior Assign? Say no thanks. Like working more? OK, fly it at time and a half (contract discussions aside here). Widebody FO in second year? Go for it - hundreds or people are doing just that, with many more to follow. It's no fluke. Just look at the steady increase in additional Buses and MDs. Couple that with retirements, and for a long time to come we are looking at nice upgrade times.

I'm not gonna talk it up any more than that - it's not good form. Suffice it to say that most folks who talk loudest about the horrors of being a FedEx pilot have never been a FedEx pilot...Take that into consideration.

Thanks for setting me straight. Jealousy is a terrible emotion. Not saying FedEx is bad at all. Just trying to point out the folly of assuming a recent spurt in hiring or growth will last as long as forecast.

Looking closer at your fleet and fleet plans, this is a unique time in FedEx's history. Smaller 727 fleet next year and rapidly growing widebody fleet with enough growth in it to make up for 727 shrinkage and more. I guess widebody is getting easier and easier to hold. And even if the growth slows, it will still be easier to go widebody than it was a couple of years ago.

As far as misinformation, I have my sources. Some of my info is probably spot on and some not so.


Peace.

 

[skykid]

Life Style at FedEx...

There seems to be some flying for everbody here. Lots of folks find a schedule they like - say in and out of their home town - and bid an aircraft and schedule to maximize days off. There are pilots here that fly almost exclusively during the day, and others that do the night thing. As far as the widebody debate, it is nice to have a choice. There are pilots here who it seems do nothing but fly around the world trips in the Maddog. Course if they get tired of that they can take a month off and fly domestic. Obviously seniority is a factor.

I chose to go to the 727 right seat because I enjoy that airplane I didn't want to pass up flying it for a couple years. There are 4 year Captains now in the 727.

What I really like about FedEx is the scheduling flexibility. There are guys that drop their entire schedule and rework it to what they want every single month - even if they had a reserve line. I like reserve lines because I don't get called unless I put in for first fly. I can pretty much dictate the days I'm gong to fly and I can work on other jobs as well.

I'd be leary of folks who don't work here telling you how it is.

 

[Bavarian Chef]

i was a widebody fo at 2nd year..widebody captain at 10th year...how long till a swa pilot makes widebody captain.....uh oh..no widebodies..yikes!

Hey bubba, every pax airline has some widebodies (in the back). Some more than others.

I think the line is ... "I've found you, Ms. New Booty..."

 

[Bavarian Chef]

I was walking through the employee lounge the other day and this FedEx pilot was sitting at a table with an mp3 player and headphones. His head was tilted back and his eyes closed. He was singing along to the music, which kind of reminded me of that Eddie Murphy "Roxanne" bit he did at the beginning of one of his movies and this was at 5:30 in the morning.

Sounds like a happy camper to me.

If people are happy, is there any reason to question why?

Are you sure he was alive? Ever see Weekend at Bernies? I heard FedEx does this all the time with their retirees to keep morale up!

 

[PurpleInMEM]

Things about fedex that make it an adequate job...

No up or out policy...be an fo or so as long as you'd like...forever even, if you want to

Vacation policy...hands down the best in the industry...much better than at my previous AAirline

Sick policy...excellent schedule enhancement tool...management whines about it so you know it's good

Narrowbody pay is good...really no reason to go to the right seat of a widebody for a few extra dollars, unless you want to

Bottom line...fedex is about choice, choice makes this job bearable

 

[psysicx]

Things about fedex that make it an adequate job...

No up or out policy...be an fo or so as long as you'd like...forever even, if you want to

Vacation policy...hands down the best in the industry...much better than at my previous AAirline

Sick policy...excellent schedule enhancement tool...management whines about it so you know it's good

Narrowbody pay is good...really no reason to go to the right seat of a widebody for a few extra dollars, unless you want to

Bottom line...fedex is about choice, choice makes this job bearable

You don't sound to happy.

 

[active_herk]

Talk to some of the FedEX guys hired in 2001 and 2002 and ask them how long it took to get to Widebody FO. No, ask them how long it took to get out of the SO seat. (70K second year, 82K third year)

Now factor in that this period of MOAB's is unprecedented in FedEx's history. How long do you think this growth spurt is gonna last? You can't use 30 new hires to MD-11 FO as a frame of reference. That is like winning the lottery and will not last.

None of us have a crystal ball, but I would hazard a guess that the growth will remain for a while. I read an article recently in Air Cargo World in which they projected air cargo growth to be in the neighborhood of 6.5% PER YEAR for the next 20 years. Realizing that there will be some new players in the game, (but there will probably be some carriers that go away during that same time frame), I think it would be safe to assume that the major carriers that are in place will see quite a bit of that growth. Giving 1.5% to the new carriers, that leaves 5% on average for the carriers already in place. So if FedEx grows by 5% per year we would need approximately 235 additional pilots to the nearly 4700 we already have in place before factoring in retirements in the next year alone. Considering the domestic market has been relatively flat for the last few years, where do you think the vast majority of this growth will take place? I would guess again that it would be in the international market requiring more widebody crews and airplanes.

Also, in the next year or so, major amounts of pilots will see the magical age of 60 at FedEx every year for the forseeable future. In addition, historically for every pilot that hits 60, another one leaves for some other reason. Given that we should see the end of the DC-10 fleet in the next few years as they are converted, and some of these age 60 guys and gals will want to continue their career, you will see them filling in the back of the 727. Therefore, I think the time is quickly approaching where very few new hires will be going to the second officer position in any airplane. Most will get hired directly to the right seat of something; so even without growth, we should see some pretty good upward mobility.

Just my take, I could be way off.

By the way, in that same article they are predicting pax traffic growth of approximately 4.5% per year during the same time frame, so there is hope for all of us!

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

That is very good news. International has a great future.

Thanks!!

 

[CaptainMark]

that sounds great and all but i just want to make sure fred lives another 40 years and keeps getting the mail contract..if that goes away it will get ugly...although the post office has said we are doing a great job and no other one company can handle the amount we are hauling...they would have to use multiple carriers and that didn't work so well before...we will see

 

[propjob27]

You don't sound to happy.

Hey genius, its "too" happy. Have a 5th grader proof read your posts. It makes you sound a bit stupid.

And PurpleinMEM sounds like a regular, realistic guy who doesn't like Cool-Aid. It's nice to see someone normal who isn't screaming "Yeaaayy! I love work!!" from the top of his lungs. I couldn't have put it better myself.

The only thing I'd add to his list is:

FO Payrates...See http://airlinepilotcentral.com/ for details.

 

[Sluggo_63]

Hey genius, its "too" happy. Have a 5th grader proof read your posts. It makes you sound a bit stupid.

Ditto for the use of "it's" vs. "its"

And I also think it's "Kool-Aid" not "Cool-Aid"

 

[propjob27]

Go d damn it. Youre right. Too much text messaging; I have a nasty habbit of leaving out ' s. Ohh look! I did it again!!

I apologize for insulting psysicx when I cant even get it right myself. Ohh look! I did it again!!

 

[sandman2122]

Yeeeah, I looove woooork!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hey ho!