Originally Posted by
Norcal-G4
I'm in my early 30's, 6500TT, 4700 Jet PIC, BS, MBA, Gulfstream Captain, 90% international flying, making 175K, working about 14 days a month with a great group of pilots. Things look stable for the next 20 years.
If you were in my shoes and knowing what you all know about cargo flying, what would you do??
Would you consider taking the big initial pay cut and make the move to FedEx or UPS??
Just curious as to how you know things are going to be "stable for the next 20 years?" Most companies don't know how business is going to be
2 years from now, and the ones who think they do, don't.
As for the UPS/FedEx thing...assuming that things
are going to be good at your company for the foreseeable future, why give up a gig like that just to start over at another company? That's not to say that FedEx and UPS aren't great companies...they
are. But airfreight (whoops..."overnight express") is a cyclical business just like any other. The domestic airfreight market is already pretty well saturated, while expansion into foreign markets will likely see continued pressure to use local carriers and pilots. Then there's the concept of ACMI, which has already made inroads into all 3 overnight express companies, and which will have a negative impact on the labor force of any company into which it gets a foothold. That
ain't going away any time soon...
Oh, and don't forget the "age 60" rule. That's likely to slow upgrades before you get a chance at the left seat of any major carrier.
The best time to be hired at either of the companies you mentioned may already be past.