The threat to FDX pilots is not automation, or Amazon, or Uber delivery drivers.

The threat is the impending exit of Fred. Fred, for all his faults, understands the primacy of protecting the brand. We don't know what the next bunch will protect.

My dad was at Northwest when Al Checchi took over at the ripe age of 41. The company was so far in the black that they wrote checks for 747's, and stayed in company-owned hotels all over Asia. Al led a leveraged buyout. In two years they had sold every plane and leased them back, sold all real estate, and were 2 billion dollars in debt. Employees ate 800 million in concessions (my dad lost 25% of his pay). Al took about 32 million for his efforts and left the business to run for governor of CA. Northwest was bankrupt 12 years later.

So who replaces Fred. That's what I worry about.....