Originally Posted by
Naven
If you are at UPS for stability there is almost no other place to be unless you are in the bottom 600. The problem with a career at UPS has to do with negative growth for the foreseeable future and little retirements for the the next 20 years. Most mature airlines have about 5% of their pilots retire per year. When retirements start again in a couple of years UPS retirements will be around 1-3 % per year. Couple that with the shrinkage of flying equals stagnation. Don't get me wrong, compared to almost anywhere else you could be UPS is at or near the top, but most guys hired in the past 10 years are looking at a 20 years until upgrade which isn't that great because the average age of new hires in the past few years has been around 40.
Excellent point. Which is why FOs need to think about that during the next contract negotiations. Consider that you'll be an FO for the next 10-15 yrs and vote that way, not like you'll be a CAPT in a year or two. Many hired in the last 5 yrs will retire as FOs, having never upgraded. There are likely to be a number of things the company will try to "buy" us out of next time: A fund, pref-bidding, etc. Think about long-term quality of life as an FO when considering these things and don't just grab the quick money. We need more FOs on the EB and as IPA committee chairs...