While I sometimes may not have a popular opinion, I’m not a management troll who has been blocked on here by a lot of people.

FedEx pilots are not in a good situation — most don’t realize it. Their behavior during this contract will define their legacy. With the tightest manning levels I’ve ever seen the trips keep getting filled, pilots on social media keep asking questions the union has answered numerous times because they’re not paying attention and the company is long-term outsourcing pilot jobs on bigger equipment than what FedEx pilots fly. Many are concerned but no action. After all of the kudos and thank yous, we find out that they came to the table with concessions and more efficiencies. It’s the slow boil.

Will the FedEx pilots pass up another moment of monumental leverage that will probably never happen again?

FedEx’s stock is near pre-Covid lows because investors are tired of hearing the same song and dance from management. FedEx’s on time performance is very low while the other shipping companies are doing good. They only have a few weeks to fix the operation as this will become a disaster during peak. And God help us if we have bad weather this season. FedEx has already angered many shipping partners/customers with late performance. Ask yourself, when was the last time your flight was on time? It happens but rarely. Being late has become the new normal.

Precedence was set during the COVID fallout when the government gave bailouts to the passenger airlines provided that they didn’t furlough. If FedEx ever gets into a situation where jobs need to be reduced, there’s no way Congress is going to lobby to save FedEx pilots’ jobs.

So while the future is sketchy at FedEx, I don’t think it is crazy to advise a new hire to test the waters somewhere else first until after this peak and future TA. However, always go to the airline that calls you first.