New pilot eager for advice!!!!

[414Flyer]

I wonder if we have been had by a troll.

 

[tie1on]

go find another career. there are too many young guys willing to work for nothing. I am ready to be flamed.

I have been furloughed 4 times and had three companies go out of business. The industry does not need more people to work for free

 

[AdlerDriver]

Alderdriver

I hope your optimism in the cargo industry will hold out but I believe your industry is only a few years behind the passenger industry. Look at DHL. They have 4 companies that are going to start fighting for the domestic feed. And it could be more if international companies get the right to fly in the us. Do you think UPS and FedEX are going to allow you to fly airplanes for 50 percent more than your passenger peers? And before you start screaming "NO WAY WE WILL CLOSE THIS $%^&*( place!" Look at the passenger industry only 5 years ago. They were on cloud nine getting the largest pay increases in history.



I wish it were not so but I do not think any area of this industry is going to be sheltered from cuts.

Well, after many rosy predictions when I got on at UAL, I won’t try to tell you you’re crazy. You could certainly be correct.



The one thing FDX has going for it is the fact that it’s company name is now a verb. Private people, business people, huge corporations, etc. all rely on that verb to make their stuff happen. People don’t call someone in NYC from LA and tell them to “DHL” them the documents they need tomorrow morning. No one else is out there making and keeping the “purple promise” of next morning delivery like FDX is. I would think that FDX wouldn’t risk losing the level of reliability they’ve made their name on by farming out business that they can’t retain a significant level of operational control over. Not to mention they have to deal with the scope language in the current contract. Until someone else can develop a similar infrastructure and network (which has taken over 30 years at FDX), I think they’ll do okay. The cargo issue is not as black and white. There’s plenty of competition and sure, changes to laws could create more competition. FDX is run by some pretty smart folks. They’re strategically positioning themselves with a new facility in China and the cargo boom is only going to continue worldwide. Who knows though, I’m no expert and I’ve certainly come to realize there are no guarantees in this business.



Passenger carrier's pay is apples and oranges with respect to FDX pay. When they were all getting their big contracts a few years ago, FDX management was telling the pilots how they were passenger carriers, they were freight haulers and there is no correlation. Those words have come back to haunt them now. With 29 billion/year in revenue, what possible justification can they use to ask for cuts? Because pilots at passenger airlines are taking cuts? Apples and oranges. Fuel prices? FDX can actually pass on higher costs to the customers with fuel surcharges that don’t get undercut by low cost carriers. They have a company making record profits and the pilots are instrumental in making that happen. There’s no justification for them not getting a taste.