Originally Posted by oldboyroy

Looking for some sound and unbiased views and commentary on anyone who has left recently the commercial airlines for cargo, specifically UPS? Money is good and I am home 18-20 days a month, but the schedules and operations are getting worse, and post-Covid manning our operations make us even harder to work for. Lately our operation meltdowns, I feel like I am on the Titanic and the orchestra is playing top deck and the ship is listing over. Is SWA the next Eastern Airlines?? I am not sure, but things have not been well since the MAX and Covid....very reactionary management. I am sure I work harder than any other NB 737 Pilot in America! I get it. But my reasons to come to SWA and life have changed recently. It is no longer the best long-term career for us because it will dictate a move in the next 5-10yrs to a favorable domicile. Overnights are now consistently short. AMs trips are turning into PMs and PMs are turning into AMs. I know I work harder at SWA than I would at UPS, but has it been a "why didn't I leave earlier" once you did UPS vs airlines? I am a couple years from upgrade (to West Coast Captain while positioned in East Coast Base) and have over 16 years of flying left. Would appreciate any insight on the dilemma.

Here are some questions:
- Being Junior, what would the worst-case schedule and platform be for me? That is a matter of perspective. Living on the east coast our ONT 75 domicile would probably be your least desirable domicile due to commute distance and junior lines that would make getting home painful. You would be flying night sort through SDF 2-4 nights a week. Survivable, sure, but the suck factor would be high. I can do anything for 12-18months....I live in a major hub and travel to the world is a 45-minute drive to the airport.
- Is there a reason to choose UPS over FedEx, I am just not familiar with the two in their differences? This can be subjective, but here is my opinion. FEDEX’s A plan accrues faster due to 25 years to max out vs UPS’s 30 year max out. UPS B plan accrues faster due to higher company contributions, but you would have less time for the whole time value of money to kick in. Pay wise, UPS has no narrow body b scale. FedEx does. However, partially due to that, 75 captain at FedEx can go very junior (1-2 yrs) vs junior upgrade at UPS is right around five years. FedEx has better first year pay. UPS is better after that, but not by a huge margin if you are wide body at FedEx. The flying at both is very similar. We both have lots of night sort fun. We both have lots of day sort fun. We both have lots of long haul international. We both have intratheater international fun (like domestic sort flying, but in Europe or Asia).
- Being near 50yrs old, do age factor in your assignment and choice of airframe? You pick airframe and domicile by age. So you would be senior in your class. Odds are you would be SDF 75 or SDFZ 75 (international), unless you wanted MIA, ONT, or A300 in SDF. Unlikely a 73 guy would be in a heavy class (74,MD).
- What are the major differences between international and domestic schedules? It depends. Long haul international is neither day nor night flying. It is both. Some love it, some hate it. Domestic and intratheater international are basically identical, just with different layover experiences. Week on/week off is a common schedule domestically. International tends to have longer trips with more time in between. Either way, 14 days max per 28 day pay period. Some lines will dip down to the 10-12 day range.
- As we get older, has anyone said this is too hard on my body and age? For a variety of reasons, including schedules, relatively few people choose to stay here until 65. The pension and ability to max your 401k/MPP make retiring younger easy to achieve. There are lines here that would kill me. I bid around them. If you are smart about finding a niche that fits you well, this can be a great job. If you are inflexible in your approach to bidding, it can be very tough. I am not too sure I can do the tempo till 65yrs at Southwest 4 legs a day can be brutal --I feel bad for some of the old timers!

Thanks for your time in this important life changing move!