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Old 05-11-2019, 07:19 AM
  #7  
wrxpilot
Gets Weekends Off
 
Joined APC: Sep 2008
Position: B767
Posts: 1,899
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I love SWA, but yeah I would absolutely get sick of flying the 737 domestic for the rest of my career. FedEx is definitely a good place for commuters, once you get some seniority. I ended up choosing FDX over a class at UAL because I will eventually be a commuter for life, and having the ability to pick and keep your jumpseat three weeks out at FDX is pretty awesome (not based on seniority either). Not to mention the deadheads we get on the front and/or back, which you can change to have your commute paid for and get trip credit for.

The other thing that’s nice about FDX is you can really choose your own adventure. Depending on what it is, it may take some seniority. But you can fly domestic 757 (and gain seniority quick!), with layovers in your hometown. Or you can fly around the world in the 777, and only commute once a month (with a good chance of at least the front or back of the trip being a deadhead). Or you can live in a foreign base, and have a really cool taste of the ex-pat life in Germany (757) or Hong Kong (767, which is what I’m doing and was awarded as a new hire). The MD-11 seems to do a bit of everything, and the Airbus seems to stay in North America (but I honestly don’t know much about what those trips are like).

You WILL fly at night for a good portion of your time here, and I’m not going to lie sometimes it’s pretty challenging. But the good news is that usually the duty and block hours are low (much lower than what you’re used to at SWA). Overall I fly WAY less than I did as an RJ pilot, and the duty days here are usually much shorter despite the fact that we don’t have 117 rest rules.

I’ve come to find out that it’s not perfect here, and we do need to correct some things in the next contract. But overall I think it’s the best place to be for a lot of folks, myself included. But we also have people that have left for other places too and been happy with their choices (although almost every new hire class has someone from UAL/DAL/AA/SWA).

Last edited by wrxpilot; 05-11-2019 at 07:31 AM.
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