I know where you are coming from because I've been working toward the same thing. I started at UPS in 1991 as a package handler, moved to PT supervision, graduated in IT and moved to the technology department. I have been flying in the military for 8 years and tried to apply for a flying position the last time the window was open. The first problem I ran into was that the online system recognized my SS number as an existing employee and wouldn't let me apply. The system says "You are currently a UPS employee and should contact your manager for opportunities within the company..."

Here's another problem... The air group and ground group are on two different sides of the planet and don't talk to each other. My manager is a smart guy and really wanted to help me out, along with several other managers that I have known over the years, but had no idea how to make it happen. No one could get my resume to the right person to land me an interview. In fact, my manager forwarded my resume and three letters of recommendation to the air group manager directly and asked him what I needed to do to apply. He basically said that unless a candidate has the following hours they will probably not be considered:

Competitive Qualifications:
Total Time 4883
Total PIC 2879
Jet PIC 1497
M/E Turbo PIC 1977

(this info came directly from air HR in 2007) I had almost 3000 hours of C-130time, 1500 PIC, and almost 16 years at UPS when my resume was sent.

Pilots aren't hiring pilots at UPS any more. HR managers are hiring the pilots and the computer does all the work to find the qualified individual. So, if you work for UPS and have the above time you probably have a 100% chance of getting hired at some point. I'm going to hit the next job fair that UPS attends and try to get some face time with a hiring manager. I will have nearly 20 years with the company by the time we start hiring but will never have those minimums with only flying the KC-135 in the Guard (I recently switched to tankers).

The other problem I had was that my UPS pilot friends couldn't even write a letter of rec since I couldn't apply through the online system. The two are tied together like smoke and mirrors.

So take it from someone who practically bleeds brown… times have changed since the days of UPSers getting hired with 50 hours PIC!! There are way too many extremely qualified pilots in the pool for any airline to have to hire someone with average/low time.

Good luck and keep flyin'!