Originally Posted by
sherpster
So for clarification: #1 at AA/DAL/UAL where you can fly when, what, and where you want for bottom of the list at Fedex flying night hub turns and flying out of Memphis? Just want to be clear thats what you are saying. Have you ever flown pax before? Very little contact. If you hate the terminal and TSA maybe I would get it but even then, #1 for the bottom? I stand by my statement.
BTW, I am a new hire at AA and I have been able to swap/drop my schedule completely around this summer and this is our "peak" season. Amazing the ability to change your schedule here. No weekends in July with only 6 days of flying and I turned around and picked up a 2.5 day trip ( wanted to visit a friend in a layover city) so now I am at 9 days. I am junior, imagine if I was senior (like say #1). They say AA has the worst contract, if this is bad then I cant imagine how good UAL and Delta are for trip trading and dropping. But hey, enjoy FedEx and I will enjoy AA.
Sherp,
AA is a great gig and no one is discrediting this. As one who left the big 3 in late 2016 I can tell you unequivocally that the money and quality of life for me as a cummutter is way better now at FDX. I have been a WB FO from day 1. I upgrade to 757 Capt next year. I am 31 years old so do the math. Its simple math to add up the rates from AA and the rates from FDX and how long you will spend on each at each property. As you said AA is still lacking in its contract. I left one of the passanger ops that you labeled as a better contract place and I am saying my earning over a career are staggeringly diffrent now that im at FDX. Vacation, retirement and hourly rates are some big differences. Also we are almost always on soft time on a trip so a 4 day that pays 24 hours only has a block of less than 10 hours almost always domestically. Lots of 32+ hour overnights or weekend layovers for 2.5 days. A week of vacation with hard line bidding gets you the entire month off at FDX this is not the case with PBS. These are all the things I weighed when I made my choice. Its not a comparison contest im just stating the facts from a perpesctive of a guy who did both sides of the house.