I turned down a fedex interview a couple of years ago and regret it. I left an ACMI carrier and was totally sick of night flying. So I offer the following view:
-You will spend a lot of your seniority on avoiding weekends and holidays at a pax carrier. At my airline it takes about 50% to avoid those things as a line holder, less so as a reserve pilot and depending on your base you could be sitting reserve Mon-Fri at 75% or higher. I have heard from a FedEx buddy there isnt much weekend/holiday flying and thats a HUGE plus.
-You will have to spend time dealing with TSA and crowded airports. At Fedex, not so much
-Commuting has been relatively painless (I throw that out there because some guys act like commuting at a pax carrier is the end of the world, it is way easier than I ever imagined)
-I actually like having FA's now, makes life interesting but that is an FO perspective.
-multiple legs per day on junior trips. I dont like anything greater than 2 legs a day. 1 is what I really want, much like you Fedex guys. takes some serious seniority to get 1 leg trips all month.
-I will say that on the outside looking in, I find it hard to believe there is that much purely day flying at Fedex. At the pax carriers you can have redeyes (especially west coast bases) BUT they are never more than 1 leg or guys would fatique them. They are also easy, easy to avoid because many commuters want them so you usually cant get them unless you are senior (east coast bases). If a flight takes off at midnight and flies to noon with sunrise being 6am are you guys calling that 50% day flying? Well, to me that isnt day flying, that horrible (not sure if that applies, just was my experience at ACMI)
-a pension is priceless. 50K a year pension is worth in my view about 1.5 million dollars in a 401K. Even with a 16% DC you aint getting 1.5 million in a 401K at a pax carrier for a long time.
Thought about reapplying to Fedex but hiring has basically stopped, I am older than most guys, plus I do have lots of guys below me at my carrier so it would be stupid to start over. I highly suggest you stay at Fedex.
Sorry for jumping on your thread, just sharing thoughts from the other side.