Typical Block hours on Cargo Airline bid line (FDX, UPS, etc.)

[klhoard]

Daddy's little boy. . .

Unbelievable! Up until retirement my dad was flying darn near 100hrs a month and not complaining a bit. I was getting a medical done a couple of months ago and overheard some FedEx guys complaining about "having to fly a couple of days while their family was on vacation". If flying is such a pain in the as* then quit! I've bled purple and orange since birth and have lived a somewhat comfortable life because of it, but not due to "flying a couple of days a month" I can assure you.

baseal,

I reviewed all of your posts on here and it doesn't appear that YOU currently work at FedEx, but your father did. I can guarantee that if he wasn't working on his "High Five", he wouldn't have been flying 100 block hours per month close to retirement.

So. . . . Until you're peeing in the tall grass, just stay on the porch. . . .

 

[Hose A. Jiminez]

How many hours are logged waiting on a sort in the middle of the night?

 

[Laughing_Jakal]

Baseal get some perspective

Make no mistake....I do not think of flying as a pain in the ass, I understand it to be what it is ...... a business transaction. I am specifically renumerated to fly an aircraft professionally, safely, and legally to and from and what time the company tells me to. I fly a schedule published by the company and bid on by nature of my seniority.

The fact that our block hours may be less than some, is one facet of the negotiations determining the worth of my services. The nature of the relationship between our block hours and our pay hours is a reasonable question. The fact of the matter, Baseal...that in most months the best you can do (if you fly the agreed upon schedule) is 72 hours......in other months it is somewhere close to 90 (in pay).....to fly over a hundred hours a month might get someone into Hot water with some Federales....to get paid over a hundred hours in a month is something entirely different all together....much akin to those fancy ladies standing on the street corner. I will admit, I've piled on the makeup hours those months my bride failed to be discerning in the use of the credit card.

I do not bleed purple and orange.....don't get me wrong....I like the job...but the only time I ever contemplated the possibility of bleeding while flying was in the service of God and Country. I don't bleed for a corporation whose aim is making money....I become involved and negotiate for a piece of the pie.

If in fact your Dad always got paid 100 hours in a month, then his feeding at the trough defined the fact that you never bled Purple and Orange, but in fact you nursed off the Purple and Orange teat. Good for you, good for your Dad, but don't take false umbrage at the fact that others have found an equitable trade for their services that fits their lifestyle.

Block hours, and pay are only a small part of the negotiating equation. Post again after you've shaved and we'll all buy you your first beer. It may be passion for you, but for the rest of us...it's just good business.

Cheers,
Jakal

 

[baseal]

Alright, I've obviously hit quite a nerve with some of you. For that, I apologize. That was not my intent. I can admit when I'm wrong, and now is one of those times. I have been misinformed on several issues which led to my statements. I do feel strongly about FedEx as a whole on what it was and what it has become. I wish everyone the best.

 

[slowdryver]

Hub turn time

Hose Jimenez,

Mas o menos tres horas en el "hub turn". Depends on where you come in from and where you are going to. The business model plays the different time zones; thus (generally) most east coast trips leave earlier compared to west coast.

slowdriver

 

[Laughing_Jakal]

Wow...I'm impressed

Baseal....
Can I buy you a beer now? You are a bigger man than me, that's for sure. It takes big stones to show that kind of humility, especially when guys like me come off the top rope for sport. I can only hope that FedEx can be as successful for my family as it has been for yours.

Cheers,

Jakal