Originally Posted by Albief15

What I will say is every time I have ever heard "we are going to hire 500", etc, we seem to stop at the 80% or so mark of the target.

Originally Posted by Albief15

Let me put it in perspective. Four or five years ago our VP of flight ops discussed in an email to crew force a possibility of MD11s being based in HKG.

Last week in captain's class he said "…expect the bid end of this week, or early next week at the latest…" It was out the next day.

Not trying to disparage anyone, just pointing out when we cannot get a straight answer from the VP of flight ops (…likely because many business decisions come above from finance, etc) asking a FedEx pilot for SA on hiring, staffing, future plans, etc is a joke. We hear rumors, we hear informed opinions, and sometimes we even get a few facts. Facts, however, are usually only days, if not mere hours…before its out on the street anyway. Point is a FedEx pilot rarely knows anymore than most of the folks in the line at OBAP or WAI about what is going on in pilot hiring or recruitment. We aren't being jerks--they don't tell us anything. Thinking they do just makes our inner cynic come alive.

This place hires in spurts…afterburner, idle, afterburner, idle… I understand how challenging predicting business can be. At the same time, I've been here 13 years and have about 1500-1600 behind me. Retirements are predicted to be 100-200 a year. Seems like a slow, steady hiring of 10-20 a month would not overwhelm the training pipeline, would allow for future retirements and still be able to absorb some of the sine waves of the business. When you manage to meet short term financial targets, however, there will be a whipsaw at times. Efficiency is not key when trying to please shareholders for the quarter or meet an MBO bonus target. So--its going to be crazy again for a while, and most of us who work there have no good SA on when it will start and end. What I will say is every time I have ever heard "we are going to hire 500", etc, we seem to stop at the 80% or so mark of the target. Maybe this time will be different, but if you want to join this place don't wait around to apply or get your app in. We stop hiring on a dime too, and have closed up shop for years several times since I've been here.

Originally Posted by MeXC

Bear, you and I missed a bunch of numbers by only a few months to a year. Timing. Is. Everything.

Originally Posted by MaydayMark

And ... everyone on the property lost 5 years seniority (about 150 retirements a year when AGE 65 happened and almost nobody retired for the next 5 years!*?

That was a bad deal for everyone except the folks that got an unexpected windfall to get serious about their retirement savings. They also got an extra 5 years to try to find a hobby that they enjoyed more than hub turning in the middle of the night!*?

Would we have a new Contract now if everyone that turned 60 had been forced to retire? Would we ALL be 750 numbers more senior? I wonder every monthly bid, every vacation bid, every training bid, every seat bid ... what would have happened if ...

Originally Posted by MaydayMark

And ... everyone on the property lost 5 years seniority (about 150 retirements a year when AGE 65 happened and almost nobody retired for the next 5 years!*?

And age 65 gave EVERYONE 5 more years. That's 5 more years to contribute to a 401K and 5 more years to get to 25yrs. Guys keep complaining about what seat upgrade they lost, well the same numbers are going to retire just 5 years later. The same opportunities will be there unless the wide body fleet is reduced. The bad thing about going 5 more years is hoping your health will be fine. But you now have the option to leave at 60 or 65.