The first thing worth noting to help put the FedEx schedule in perspective is the business model and how we deliver the stuff. We don't deliver Sundays and only limited on Saturdays. So the flying schedule tends to be lighter on the weekends. Everything is getting picked up around the US to start the journey on Monday - so no reason to fly from MEM to any city on that day. With that in mind, it's rare to find scheduled flights outbound from MEM to anywhere on Monday. IND is another huge sort facility and all the stuff I'm describing with MEM is happening simultaneously there as well. However, as of right now, there is no flight from ABQ to or from IND. So, that's not an option for you.

So, the week always starts with Monday night flights from every city we serve (including ABQ). All the packages have been picked up all day long Monday (and every weekday as the week continues). Now they're on the jet and at 20:00L ABQ time, they take off for MEM. Once they get to MEM around midnight, they need a few hours to be sorted and loaded on the correct jets to take them to their final destination later that morning. That works out perfect for you since you can arrive a few hours before your show time, maybe grab a nap and be ready for duty at, say, 0200-0300L MEM time.

Your trip is usually going to start with one of those outbound flight from MEM leaving at around 0300-0400L MEM time. So, you leave your house to show at the ABQ airport at 1900L for the jumpseat that takes off at 2000L. There's one every night from Mon-Fri that will get you to MEM in plenty of time for you to make any morning trip we have.

When you finish your last trip of the week and arrive back in MEM on Friday night (again, just before midnight) - now it's time to go home. You wait a few hours and jump on the ABQ flight that leaves around 0400L and lands back there at 0530L. There is also a daily flight every afternoon (Tues-Sun) roughly 12 hours later departing MEM around 1600, arriving ABQ at 1730L.

Right now the A300 is flying to ABQ. That's 6 seats outside the cockpit and two inside. I seriously doubt you'll have much trouble getting a seat most days you need one. They can be reserved 3-weeks in advance. If you miss your trip because the jumpseat flight is late, you will lose the trip pay but be free from discipline (as long as your schedule meets certain parameters which it should).

Since there needs to be pilots in ABQ Monday night ready to fly to MEM, that means they either fly there Saturday and layover all weekend until Monday night - or they leave MEM Monday morning or Sunday afternoon and deadhead to ABQ on commercial airlines. So, if you get one of those trips - you either spend the weekend laying over at home or you wake up Monday morning already where you need to be getting paid to be there (no need to commute to MEM just to fly commercial back to ABQ. Just cancel the ticket and stay home since you're where you need to be).

Since FedEx need pilots in all their cities Monday night ready to fly to MEM, there are A LOT of trips with commercial deadheads Monday morning. You may not have the ABQ one, but maybe you get the one in DFW. So, you cancel the ticket from MEM to DFW on your trip and used the money FedEx planned to use to buy yourself one from ABQ to DFW. If it's cheaper than the MEM-DFW one and you have some extra, maybe get a car service to drive you to the airport. Jump on a morning flight to DFW (with a confirmed seat, earning frequent flyer miles and getting paid), make your way to the scheduled layover hotel and grab an afternoon nap before showtime later that evening. Fly one leg to MEM, turn to your next trip, fly somewhere else, sleep the day there, back to MEM that night and so on for the week. Finish up Friday night or Saturday morning and look forward to maybe having a whole week off before you do it again.

That's just one simple example of a basic domestic schedule. The deadhead deviation options gives us HUGE flexibility in how we get to work. There are lots of folks who rarely ever have to actually make a true commute to MEM to start a trip. It's common for senior guys who always get deadheads and maybe turn through IND instead of MEM to only go to MEM once every 9 months for recurrent. You mentioned LAX - although it may be closer, it really wouldn't be an option for many years. It's only an MD-11 base and is extremely senior. If you're staying in ABQ, MEM is your best bet for the near future anyway.

Hopefully that all makes sense and removes some of the mystery. I haven't even touched on the international deadhead options - maybe another time. Overall it's a great set-up if you can swing it. Highly recommend.