PAX vs Freight

[taxicabdriver]

Wow, you read an article, then it MUST be true. Maybe you haven't seen the pay scales of FedEX vs any other airline for the last 5 years...

Thats exactly why I was asking the question, 5 years is not that long when you take into account that one may have a 30 year career flying. I don't know for sure since I wasn't paying attention to major airline payscales 5 years ago, but I would guess that before 9/11 the pax guys outearned the freight guys. So, I was wondering what everyone would guess would happen 10, 15, 20 years down the road.

 

[ASA Captain]

It's Personal

Boy there are so many A holes so quick to judge on this board.

Taxicab,

The fact is that the future for the biggies, FedEx, UPS, DHL look very good. As long as there is room to grow their businesses (look to globalization: China, India, etc.) they will be able to make significant gains in their contracts. The only thing that might stop that, aside from the invention of a teleportation device, is competition. But with so much room to grow, there isn't a lot of real competition. Besides, FedEx and UPS have slightly different target customers. Lots of little high priority packages versus big box shipping.

As you know the pax world is a competitive nightmare (for pilots). With the impending merger and acquisition wars, it will only get worse for quite some time. Once there are only 2-3 majors to compete with 2-3 LCC's, there might be some stabilization in pax carriers.

There really is no comparison between pax vs. cargo when it comes to stability and job security.

I have been doing CDO's, stand-ups, high-speeds, naps for many years. The worst for me is the shifting of the sleep cycles. I was fine if I could stay on a vampires schedule, but with a wife and baby, that is impossible. Shifting your clock from up-at-day to up-at-night and back is what kills the mice. It is brutal. There are ways to cope. Naps become an important part of your life, but they can't repair the damage to your body. Fatigue is insidious, and can kill you.

That said, I have dealt with this for years as a necessity and as a choice. I think I could do this for two to three times as much money. The only way you will know if you can handle it is to do it for six months or more straight through.

Be careful. Fatigue is hard, if not impossible to recognize, and has been shown to be as bad or worse than being legally drunk in regards to performance.

 

[Whine Lover]

ASA,

On the English lesson:

- I'll give ya' the last three. Just stupid mistakes.

- I beg to differ on the first one.

Anyway, that's what Editors are for. Mine always argues with me when I wanna' say things like "wanna'".

Sometimes I just write the way I speak. I feel it makes for a better read.

As far as punctuation and sentence structure is concerned, I feel that they are really more of an "art" than a "science". Something to be played with in a Jackson Pollack sort of way. (Sorta' like the way I fly an ILS.)

Not to mention that all the above requires less thought on my part...


YKW

 

[Whine Lover]

"The worst for me is the shifting of the sleep cycles. I was fine if I could stay on a vampires schedule, but with a wife and baby, that is impossible. Shifting your clock from up-at-day to up-at-night and back is what kills the mice. It is brutal. There are ways to cope. Naps become an important part of your life, but they can't repair the damage to your body."

THAT says it all quite nicely.

So, the question is, how much money is that worth?

To each his own.



YKW

 

[SWA/FO]

So, the question is, how much money is that worth?

remember what they say in Church.... "if we aren't getting our 10% you're going to hell anyway" or "you can't take any of that money with you!"

 

[Bavarian Chef]

That is one of the funniest things I've ever read on this board!

I'm sure most would rather have a career of multiple bankruptcies and furloughs, low pay, and crappy working conditions! LOL!!

Some enjoy cleaning the airplane between flights, others prefer the delight of asking the #1 for permission to take a potty break. Still others enjoy choking down an endless stream of Big Macs and burritos and shy away from the scariness of international destinations and being away from momma overnight. Many passenger pilots also tell me they delight in minimum wage TSA "wand wavers" sniffing their breath first thing in the morning and others just relish the simplicity their golden years will be without all the stress of managing a large retirement portfolio. Many are gamblers at heart and eagerly anticipate what awaits them as their carrier merges with several others or what the aftermath of another terrorist attack might bring.

Lots to consider when making a career choice but I guess I'm old-fashioned in choosing money and stability.

BBB

This one is funny, a real keeper. Cheers!

 

[Bavarian Chef]

"The worst for me is the shifting of the sleep cycles. I was fine if I could stay on a vampires schedule, but with a wife and baby, that is impossible. Shifting your clock from up-at-day to up-at-night and back is what kills the mice. It is brutal. There are ways to cope. Naps become an important part of your life, but they can't repair the damage to your body."

THAT says it all quite nicely.

So, the question is, how much money is that worth?

To each his own.



YKW

I do plenty of up at day and up at nite at jb, back and forth even and sometimes round and round -- the myth that you can't have your sleep schedule all out of whack at a pax airline is just that, whack. Especially if you are a commuter, like me. If I was better compensated for it than it wouldn't be that bad. Seniority is everything at moving both people AND boxes, and frankly I don't see the difference between the two when I am sitting in the 20 plane conga line at JFK trying to fly a redeye over to SMF and I have to shut down the motors 5-6 times during the 2 hour taxi to prevent the suck from becoming the BIG SUCK.

BTW, will you dorks stop harping on people's spelling, punctuation and/or grammar?