What I found most interesting...

DW said the company is indeed in trouble with a slowing economy and 100 dollar a barrel oil. Business is declining. Mentioned FedEx did have a couple of furloughes in the '70s for background. Very few on the property now have been thru a period at FedEx that is similar to the tough times we will have over the next 12-18 months.

Overstaffed? Yes. DW mentioned he does not want to take a stance that the company is being dishonest (pointed out the company always slightly underestimates performance), put up a barrier to communication and take a hard stance against any sort of BLG lowering. He said that runs the risk of us waiting too long to fix a problem and may increase the chance of a furlough in 2008 or 2009.

DW said he would rather look at lowering BLG and would like to prevent a furlough, IF that is what the membership and MEC come up with. This created some heated comments because some in the audience think the company making $250 mil a quarter means a furlough is just postering and no way in #$#$ do they want to lower BLG. DW said he also believes it is postering but he wants to maintain the dialog, trend toward caution and maintain a working relationship with the company.

DW also said he thought this tough time was going to come a little earlier.

DW said PC increased hiring in 2006 to avoid the cycle we have maintained in the past. He did not want to stop hiring for a year or two then get behind in the training department when it started again. DW said PC wanted a slight overmanning in wide seats to avoid a problem when the A380 came. Now, of course, it's the 777 and the 777 might come a little late while age 65 further increases manning.