First, welcome to the Company!
Secondly, no thanks!
Some will have heart burn over it, but google 'Decision 83 ALPA'. ALPA fought the battle along time ago and while it has its issues, it is the basis for ALPA contracts, and frankly, it may have warts, but I think it is still relevant.
They industry norm for the 75/76 is a blended rate. FedEx has already fought the payrate/pay banding issue with the DC-8 (perhaps the 747 was part of that too) after the Tigers merger. For good/bad, we have pay banding, WB and NB. Leave it alone. Back to the 75/76, the company wanted a blended rate. The 767 LOA wasn't a bad agreement, but thanks to MANAGEMENT issues regarding staffing, a delay in starting to hire, and of course the sims, we are in this mess. The Passover deal is another problem, but bottom line, the Company has created this mess. They can fix their mess!
Further, with a single payrate, you would need an excess/flush bid to realign the seniority list. Way too much training costs. Nobody wants that type of bid!
Lastly, having a junior airplane, NB works well for seniority. Was the 727 in the past and before this latest fiasco with the 75/76 bid back, it worked well with the 757. Given the amount of night flying, if a guy wants gain seniority, it is nice to for a guy to have a place to go as a line pilot. Some guys go into management, some go to the Union, some go to the school house, some move to a Domicile to ease juniority. But, for the rest, nice to have a fleet where they can get some seniority fairly quickly and be line guys. Given that the economy will crap out and the music will stop again, I think it is import for guys to have a place to go should they desire seniority.
There is a lot of variety at FDX. Want International flying, bid the 777 and MD. Want International Flying and lifestyle, bid the 76 in Hong Kong or 75 in Cologne. Want WB Domestic, bid the MD, A300 or 767. Want Domestic with quick seniority, in the past, you could bid the 757. Hopefully those days will come back to the 757.
It is not always about Money. QOL has a value, and QOL can be found fairly quickly on a junior fleet. For many, that QOL gain is well worth the money!
I just realized I used 'guy' a lot. I include the 'girls' too in this discussion!
