To the suggestion that the app window opening was a surprise, it has been said on this site for the last six months that hiring was more than likely going to happen. To say this was sprang upon those wanting to get on with fedex with short notice are a bit short sighted and haven't been doing their homework. Realistically, the first few hundred external hires are more than likely going to be those who are pretty well connected and have been getting constant updates from current fedex pilots, thus will probably have the FEX already taken care of. So, one could say when it comes down to it, it is not going to matter for those who are not within the two year time frame right now.
In other words, unless O changes the process dramatically, it is unlikely that those outside the loop will be here in 2011.