For those complaining about geezer clog, here are some public school math numbers to contemplate. The excess bid for the DC-10 will be coming out soon. The plan is to excess about 150 folks out of the 10, either by those bidding off or forced off. By my guesstimate approximately 30 of those excessed will be forced to either retire or go to the back of the 727. That leaves 120 pilots that will be immediately put into the training pipe line, most likely into wide body seats. That means the 727 folks looking to move up aren't going to move up as quickly as they have. Now look ahead to the 727 reitrements and resulting excess bids and the problem is compounded by a three person acft being absorbed into a two person fleet. Oh yeah, let's throw in the age 60 thing. You can see why seat progression and hiring will be slower down the road.
History...When I was hired here my seniority was 943. Today, nearly 20 years later, it's 1022. That's because of the Tiger merger and where our group was blended into the list. Am I complaining? No, it's just one of the factors you have to deal with in an otherwise wonderful job. Historically it's taken 7 years to get to the left seat of the 727 and 10 years to get to the left seat of a widebody here at Fedex. If you're doing better than that go buy something extravagant that will put a big smile on your face.