Whale
I voted for the LOA because it was an increase in benefits from our current Contract (I’m sure others at this post will disagree). And, this LOA is a starting point for future negotiations. There was no guarantee the company would return with a better product if we had refused this LOA because we already had a move package in our contract.
I’m also one of the pilots bidding Captain in Paris which it looks like I’ll be able to hold.
Yes, Paris will be expensive …hopefully I’ll break-even going from Wide Body FO to 757 Captain. Yes, I wouldn't bid Paris if I couldn't hold Captain..but I can and I'm looking forward to living overseas again. I lived in Germany during my AF career for 6 years so I’m not going over totally blind.
As far as who FedEx hires, no one comes onto our property without numerous years of flying experience. We probably have one of the highest time requirements in the industry. And, I know other cargo operators hire guys off the street without international experience and they seem to do just fine (I was at World and saw this first hand).
Also, from past discussions on this post, they’re plenty of pilots at Reserve/Guard units that will jump at the opportunity to volunteer for one of these FDAs just to get hired. Hopefully their sponsor/company will brief them on the possibility of extended tour of duty since they'll need to bid to return back to the CONUS/ANC.
As far as when you might start training if you’re hired into the HGK FDA, that all depends on how many pilots senior to you need to go through training. Also, from what I understand, the SFS pilots bidding back to the CONUS/ANC will be required to continue to fly Asia until Dec08.
Good luck