FedEx bid and future hiring
 

FedEx aviators,

The word on this forum and in the general rumor mill seems to be that there wont be any more interviewing until June due to the bid that is happening or will happen. My question is does a new bid slow training? If there are a lot of seat changes then dont those guys need to get trained? As a result is it reasonable to assume that interviewing will remain slow after the bid or that the pool will get full until the training for the seat changes is done? I'm still a military guy and I dont fully know what all a bid entails so any info for my curiosity is appreciated!! Thanks

No,

The new hires will go into vacant seats, sometimes ahead of upgrading pilots. I suspect they are just going to wait to identify the vacant seats. There are also rumors of reduced numbers of 75's so the puzzle pieces need to be sorted out.

While waiting for Tony to give you a better answer, Here's my .02.

If in deed interviewing has stopped until Summer, you are correct, the school house will keep training and probably the pool (what ever is left of it) will probably (slowly) empty. My guess is hiring will not stop, as it creates problems in moving people out of junior positions (unless they are over staffed in the 727 SO, anyone who knows care to comment??).
While FedEx has in the past "closed" the school house to new hires, the prevailing opinion is that we are still expanding and "priming the pump" as you will, keeps the system moving without creating the usual problems of an on again off again training schedule.
We are all looking toward the next bid (I should say, all junior type's, the senior types are obsessing over the age 60 thing :rolleyes: ) You will probably read about it here before most FedEx pilots do as word (and rumors seem to travel faster here than even on the line). Good luck, don't sweat what FedEx is/will do, it will happen in its own good time (and probably slower/later than it should have). ;)

Just heard about an April 24/25 interview....FWIW. Dont' know numbers or details....but it appears the spigot, while only dripping, is not turned off.

new rumors are that 777s will be coming sooner than expected and the huge bid coming will include 777 slots...and heard another rumor that LAX will close dec07 or 08...

Just to be sure that both extreems have been covered...

I heard Asia SIBA for LAX. MD-10's I would assume. D/H to HKG, get carted to Guanghoweveritsspelled. Deliver lots of rice and tea, then D/H back.

And we are only hiring 150 total in '07, down from some 300+.

CaptainMark, would you care to expand on your rumor? I mean was it from a third cousin’s niece twice removed or from your bud the VP of Blah blah blah while drinking a brew at his place. :confused:

At my recent md11 oral, my examiner said the 757 captain seat will be pay protected for widebody captains to bid... news to anyone?

actually...rode the crewbus w/ jl the other day..asked about LA...he said if not closed it would soon become a domestic base...they are forcing international to LA...new bidpack has hardly any international...also 777s are coming 6 months early...

CaptanMark thanks for the info. I wish I could get this information from the FedEx website instead of having to get it via crew bus rumor mill. If JL is saying this stuff out loud then the company should post it! Does management keep this stuff quiet so they can feel important when they are among us laborers? And when is the bid coming!? And how big is it!? I’ll just have to loiter in the German town grocery stores and wait for management to shop! :D

Seems unlikely, especially with Subic closing. The domestic thing seems backwards. Where else in america can you call a guy and have him on a flight to Bejing/HK/SIN within a 1.5 hours?(plus showtime) Not ANC(yet), HNL perhaps.

Euro Domicile Override
 

My take on this is that the 757 will pay W/B Capt and F/O rates if it is based in Europe. This will act as a cost of living override since it is supposed to pay N/B rates.

Not to contradict you, Capt, but I've asked SW (LAX FOA) a few times about the base closing (remember when JL said if he was king he'd close LAX), her quote "whatever JL says, the opposite happens", and we've actually had increased flying lines out here since Jan. But then again, I'm just a clueless line guy, what the hell do I know…

"new bidpack has hardly any international"

Not true. At least not for F/O's. If anything, there is more international flying this month.

If this is the case, wouldn't they have to ammend the contract some how or am I missing something?

yeah...i am just repeating what JL told us on the crewbus...he said he could do all the intl out of mem and anc...he said they r forcing intl into the lax bidpacks...i hope it stays there myself...i can see myself living on a hill in temecula with weekends riding my sandrail in the dunes...

yeah f/os!!!...again i am just repeating what JL said..and i think the f/os are flying more with mem and anc crews then lax crews...

LAX is going to have to do the Guangzhao SIBA.....

"and i think the f/os are flying more with mem and anc crews then lax crews..."

I just took a look at the Captains' lines in the bidpack, and...well...I know a lot of people consider Memphis and parts of Oakland to be in a different country. Otherwise, looks like I'll be flying with a lot of Memphis and Anchorage crews.