Chiming in as a guy who has a great 91 gig, but also recently put an app in with FedEx:

I think the thing that kind of got to me was maximizing my career earning potential with the skill set I have available. I love my current job - very large (100B+) company that has been in corporate aviation for over 60 years, great benefits (generous 401k match, good health plan, pension, etc) and all the niceties that come with a large established department. We have great pilots, dispatchers, mx staff, line guys who fuel and clean and stock, handlers when we need them, a flight planning provider - everything that makes a job easy. We fly about 120 days a year with about 35 RONs. It's all great, except we fly Jet III, with no bigger airframes in sight - so the pay band is somewhat limited as far as max earning potential. They seem to be starting to move to a more lucrative pay package (thank you Walmart!) in response to the hiring boom at the legacies, but it's a slow change.

So, life is good and pretty easy. But, being in my early 30's, it's hard to deny the fact that if I were able to get on with FedEx, it would be difficult for a few years - probably commuting, getting adjusted to 121, Union stuff, etc - but, if the pay tables are anywhere close to accurate, year 2 I'd be making more than I do now and then up and away from there. I flew 135 cargo for 4 years earlier in my career and loved it. You're still allowed to wear jeans and hooded sweatshirts at FedEx, right?!

So for my age and situation, I'm testing the waters. If FedEx calls, I'll answer and try my hardest to get in the door, hunker down and work a little harder than I'm used to to provide more opportunities for my wife and kids. If they don't call, I'll still be happy where I am. Money is certainly not everything, but sometimes the numbers are hard to deny.

One guy's thoughts...