"FedEx wants as much of its flying as possible done by its pilots. FedEx pilots are part of the reliability factor that wet-leased and code-share operations do not provide" J.L.
This was in the recent email from JL. I don't understand how the language in the LOA supports this. In fact, if you go back to the contract negotiations when they changed the language to:
"...shall be
flown only by pilots whose names appear on the Federal Express Master Seniority List in accordance with the terms of the Agreement:
...
2. “International
flights” are all Company flights which originate
from, terminate in or transit the U.S. or its territories via a location
outside the contiguous 48 states. International flights also include
all flights conducted by any pilots on the Federal Express Master
Seniority List assigned to Foreign Duty Assignment (“FDA”), or
Special International Bid Award (“SIBA”).
It seems as though this language provides a window into the company's long term plan of supplementing FedEx pilots with foreign ones. In fact, when you read these statements:
"7. The Company may enter into wet lease and other agreements
with other carriers at any time without penalty or payment to any
pilot or the Association in order to deliver freight to cities that
cannot be served by Federal Express trunk aircraft because...
b. Foreign government or foreign authorities’ action restricts
the use of pilots on the Master Seniority List so as to render
the use of FedEx pilots not economically feasible"
Will the company say that the union's stance is not economically feasible in order to fly "international flights not originating, concluding, or transiting the US?
"5. FDA Vacancy Awards
a. Primary and, if applicable, secondary FDA vacancies shall be
awarded in seniority order based on pilots’ standing bids. The
Company may elect not to
fi ll secondary FDA vacancies.
b. No pilot may be assigned involuntarily to fill an FDA vacancy.
If no pilot on the Master Seniority List expresses a preference
by standing bid for an FDA vacancy, the Company may hire
a pilot to fill that vacancy.
Why does this not say that the new pilot will be on the Master Seniority list? This, in combination with the above statements, leaves it pretty wide open for the company to hire Chinese pilots to fly Chinese flights, or British pilots to fly European flights (good pilots, by the way). It just seems as though the last 5 years has been a slow migration/manipulation and the company knows exactly where they are heading.
Just foor for thought.