The FedEx LOA (discussed on several threads from different prospectives) has not been seriously contemplated from a WCS (worst case scenario )
What can FedEx do, and more importantly, what will it do if the LOA is defeated by the FedEx pilots and the company refuses to improve or renegotiate the terms??

Hire Foreign pilots
This would be the major fear of most FedEx pilots. It would affect junior pilots hard and poolie and FedEx wanna be pilots the hardest. Is it a reasonable fear??
IMHO, for a Paris crew base, yes. If FedEx can legally (via our CBA and whatever courts would hear a (supposed lawsuit) hire pilots outside our working agreement, they could reasonably expect to find qualified pilots within Europe willing to leave other less desirable airlines (Ryanair, Easyjet, etc) to fly for FedEx for what FedEx has offered us. The downside: Labor laws and other work issues. Incompatible work groups (different FedEx pilots flying under different ops specs and different national laws (JAA vs FAR). Crews can't (and wouldn't want to) fly together, disallowing scheduling synergies. Cost of duplicate flight managements and other associated staff functions duplicated. With a small pilots group without much time or personal investment in job, an increased risk that even captains would leave for greener pastures, should opportunities present themselves. A small crew force would be more greatly affected by small changes in staffing. Two pilots leaving on short notice would be a bigger issue than within (our) current 4800+ pilot group. A much increased risk of (successful ) job action owing to cultural differences and more favorable labor laws (especially in France). Last and not least, the negative affect such an action would have on the morale and disposition of US based FedEx pilots. Cooperation, "Fuel Sense", labor peace?? Out the window.
Hong Kong. Even less likely to prove successful. Why?? look at the situation on the ground in both the main land (China) and HKG. Chinese airlines are growing by leaps and bounds, so much so they cannot hire enough local talent to fill the slots they have now. The Chinese are as protective, if not more so, than anyone in trying to keep what they see as local jobs for the local team. They are so desperately short they are hiring westerners to fly for their national airlines.
In Hong Kong the main carrier (Cathay) and its sister airline, Dragon air are either hiring or have (some) better terms than FedEx is offering. FedEx would have to compete with a very desirable airline in its own right for pilots willing to live and work in HKG. In reading comments from Cathay pilots on another forum, they are unhappy with several aspects of their working conditions, but in reading their woes, I don't think FedEx would be offering anything that would cause a mass exodus from Cathay (maybe Dragon, but would have to hear from better sources to believe so). The cost of living in HKG is higher than Paris, and unlike Paris, you can't as easily get away from it. Its is also interesting to note that Cathay bases many of its pilots outside of HKG, presumably because of the problem of retaining qualified crews and HKG QOL, FedEx would be competing for the scarce labor willing to work in HKG. HKG is an island, in both the literal and political sense. Living in mainland China may not be an option, even if you wanted to. QOL in HKG is going to require money, more so than it appears the company is willing to fork out. And like Paris, lack of school redemptions will limit interest to very young families or older pilots without school age children. Finally, regarding interest in HKG, I think less pilots will be interested in doing a two year or longer tour in the fragrant city (HKG) than they would Paris. From my experience, most pilots enjoy the HKG layover, but by day 4 they are ready for a change. It would be different living there for sure, in some ways better, but it will still be the crowded place we know from short visits. Again like a European base, hiring pilots and keeping pilots will be a constant battle I think the company doesn't want to get itself involved in.
In closing, could they do an end run around the FedEx pilot group and staff non US based pilots?? Probably yes. Would they be willing to?? Only those at the highest level know the answer. I think it wouldn't take a whole more to make going to either Paris or Hong Kong a reasonable proposition for FedEx families willing to entertain the option. Certainly it will be less than the cost (to FedEx) of going the WCS way.

 

Don,

I love ya man, but have you ever heard of the word "Paragraph"? Regardless, a nice post!

 

Nice post, Don. I've been thinking some of the same things.

The threat of using labor outside our CBA always seems to loom on the horizon. I say, bring it on! If they could do it now, they would. If they're setting us up to say "well, you voted it down, no one would go," then so be it.

In the end, it comes to the notion that we, FEDEX ALPA, are the best way to get the job done: safe, legal, & reliable. If FredEx has to prove it to himself, go ahead, I say.

We deserve at least a Cathay Expat package. As a former, Subic 49'er, they fooled me once. I understand where Edgar comes from.

I vote NO, with the confidence that we deserve better.

 

We want to keep FDX freight flown by FDX pilots, but to what extent? What if FDX wants to open an FDA in Rwanda? How about Saudia Arabia? New Guinea? Flint Michigan?

Maybe there is some FDX flying that should be left to someone else?

 

OK, this is where I draw the F%&*ING LINE!!!!

 

Whatever happened to the "Nobody can do business (and profit) under French labor law? This seems to put the lie to the "We'll just hire foreign pilots" scenario.

 

The idea of FedEx outsourcing their flying is nothing new in the airfreight industry; DHL has been doing exactly this for years.

DHL currently has lots of different airlines flying for them around the world:

- 4 are 100% DHL owned airlines; SNAS in Bahrain, EAT in Brussels (Leipzig), DHL Air Ltd. in East Midlands, DHL Aero Expreso in Panama.

- 3 in the US; Astar, ABX, and soon Polar.

- Dozens of others in Hong Kong, China, Africa, the Caribbean, etc. fly everything from A-300's to Cessna Caravans as contractors to DHL.

Published web sites list DHL as having 420 aircraft... who knows.

Anyway, the DHL corporate culture is extremely anti-union. They are very happy with the current arrangement of owning or contracting with dozens of airlines around the world. It's an arrangement that is great for them and lousy for pilots.

I don't know if FedEx would go out and establish airlines in France and Hong Kong, but it seems more likely that they would just go out and buy existing airlines and upgrade them.

Like I said, it's great for them and lousy for pilots.

8DRIVER

 

I agree with your points and also believe that the negatives of having foreign pilots fly for FedEx outway the pluses by a long shot. We all know that growth in Asia and Europe is where the future is for FedEx. Reliability has been the key to success for us, so it's just a matter of how much they're willing to pay to get the reliability they need to make CDG and HKG successful. I believe we are the only ones that can provide them with that reliability from the start. Obviously, the company thinks we are too; hence the LOA. Unfortunately, in its current form it is woefully short of our expectations. The Cathay package should be used as a baseline. We deserve at least that, so count me out until then.

SG

 

Before FDX I flew -10s and -11's for Gemini.

We used to pick up DHL freight in Cincinnati, fly across the pond, and drop it off at Midlands near Nottingham. It would be loaded up into the foreign carrier DHL Air's 757's and distributed across Europe.

The Midlands operation was in a brand-new facility with great aircraft and easily as good a reliability rate as our CDG hub. Don't fool yourself.

Thing is... the nature of the market is to continually seek efficiencies. This never stops. I don't know if we can escape this sort of outsourcing in the long run.

People bitched about the crap service at Walmart, but notice how many other stores (from home repair to sports merchandise to pet supplies) have adopted their model.......

 

I think the coorperate question is the one of reliability. They preached the pitch of the world on time, and the on time guarentee, with the reliability rate. I think the unknowns with outsourcing in Hong Kong and the labor laws in France are something the company is not ready to deal with if we are supposed to go over there and be productive and competitive. The monetary compensation is nice, should be more, health care is a must, some mention of supplements for schooling would also be nice, But the STV is showstopper for me! Not only no, but HE!! NO. I am not in the military, and I don't want to get deployed for 90 day stints every 18 months evertime management feels like filling a FDA.

Protect the inversables, vote NO!