Originally Posted by NutKase
Can some of you guys in th know, i.e. employees of FedEx, with time on their hands explain in detail all the ins and outs of the bids, contract negotiations, acronyms used on this board for bases, planes, domiciles, seniority, passover pay etc.
I'm knew to the airline industry and am currently still in the military, trying to get spun up on what my life might be like at a major, specifically FedEx.
I'll update this first post as questions arise with specific questions and links to threads from where they come.
Thanks, NutKase
Where to start???
Pilot domicilies: Where pilots are based out of. Memphis for the MD-11 (the "Maddog"), A300/310 ("Bus"), DC-10, B-727 ("the Boeing," "Slaveship"). Anchorage and L.A. for the MD-11 only. Most flights originate out of the domicile though not all. Reserve (being on call, kind of like "alert") is sat at the domicile as well.
Negotiations: Who the f knows. It's at the NMB (national mediation board) right now. Labor disputes are an unknown to us mil types, but they can get ugly, I guess. Fedex ALPA, our union, is focusing on Scope (Fedex pilots fly fedex freight, company cannot outsource our jobs,) and healthcare. Pay is part of it, but not the major part. UPS guys are mad at us for that right now. Hopefully we'll all get whatever we ask for.
Seat Bids: A periodic bid that allows pilots to move seats. For example, a guy can go from being a second officer on the boeing to a first officer on the bus. Or from a first officer to a captain if he can hold it. Meaning if the most junior Boeing capt is seniority number 5555 and a guy has a seniority number of 5554, then he can hold it. If it's 5556 then he won't get awarded that seat. Right now, the Bus is going most senior, the right seat of the Boeing and Maddog most junior, besides second officer of course. Right now, Fedex is having seat bids around every 6 months or so, but that's not expected to continue.
Passover Pay: What you get if a guy junior to you activates in a seat that you bid for and we're denied training for before this guy. For example, you're waiting for training in the right seat of the Bus and the company hires a guy directly into the right seat of the bus and you were not given the opportunity to train before him. Also applies if a guy volunteers to be an instructor in a seat and stays in that seat rather than go to a higher seat. He's doing the company a favor and therefore gets paid for the seat he can hold. Not really something a new hire needs to worry about.
Seniority: A number assigned, beginning at 1, from the earliest date of hire to the most recent. The guy who's been there longest is the lowest number, the shortest the highest number. Seniority is everything. You bid for seats and trips by seniority number.
Hope that helps and that it wasn't too confusing.