Originally Posted by
Beans
I saw a poster earlier say that all the guys/gals at the majors make about the same. This is absolutly false. The numbers and benefits don't lie. FedEx leads the pack by a long shot from my observation for the reasons below.
2nd year pay- $173 currently in November it goes to $178. This does not even account for all the trip over rides for international and trip/duty regs.
6 hour a day min gurantee
These guys fly about 250 hours a year and get paid 1100-1300 hours of credit. Thats a 4 to 1 ratio.
A Fund- Pension (130k a year when you retiree funded outside of the company) This is worth about 34k a year assuming a comparable DC contribution ratio and this is assuming a 6% market gain per year
B Fund - 8% DC contributions goes to 9% next year
Almost all of your career is on wide body pay scale which is worth millions over a 30 year career assuming wages and retirement as compared to another doing mostly narrow body.
Upgrades are under 2 years for a 757 Capt.
Yes you see some guys (the abnormal) stating they make 250k as an FO at SWA but this is by far not the normal. These are the supper senior or those flying their life away literally.
I am one of those at SW thats leavening to FedEx and have tones of buddies who have done the same.
The numbers just don't lie folks. If you see someone posting with some obscured numbers you know they are working like a you know what or they are very senior and are bidding to fly with check airman getting dropped and still flying.
Good luck beans! Seemed like you where never happy here at SWA. There are a lot of reasons people don’t apply to Fed Ex/UPS. Long haul cargo is not for everyone. Some have already done it for a decade plus in other capacities and seen the toll it takes on the body.
Things are rosy right now everywhere. It wasn’t too long ago ups was hiring straight to the left seat management pilots while guys where still furloughed. The risks are there flying cargo. I don’t think amazon is an immediate threat but over a career I would definitely worry about Jeff Bezos.
Again, good luck. We don’t make the most at Swa and we are trying to change that, but try not to burn any bridges on the way out. This profession is fraught with broken promises and broke retired pilots.