Bid Gouge
 

Fellas:

Just came out of a training event and we were talking about the bid. My evaluator said the following:

This is from JL--the bid is delayed due to Paris being canxed. No bid until the company figures out how to proceed and that the French are being French. Standby for further.

And so it goes...

WM

P.S.--I'm not kidding, this is what he was told in the hub the other night.

WHAT? NO EUROPEAN DOMICILE? Let's see...I got here in 2002. Since then, we were going to do the Paris, Prague, Cologne, and my favorite "Zurich" just six months down the road. Okay...then NEXT summer. Alright then...NEXT spring. You get the idea.

Not trying to be a smart alec....I know its frustrating for those guys who DID want this to happen...but working within an EU country, especially France, is going to provide a lot of headaches. Our company is going to open a Hong Kong domicile and Chinese base, yet if you read tonight's FCIFs it will remind you that life in China can be TOUGH if you divert in without a VISA that is current. There are going to be lots of little points of friction in making all this work--death by a thousand paper cuts.

Keep your sense of humor...we'll need it for a while.

Fedex can't get enough 757's to start-up CDG.

paris domicile
 

Guys...

From your paris chief pilot this past weekend...the flying will happen but it may be siba until all the details get ironed out. I'm not sure about the "french being french" is all of it or part of it but there are still a lot of details that have to be resolved.

He seemed to think the LOA was a good deal (said the company would not sweeten the deal) and said if you don't like the LOA you can still opt for the CBA.

FWIW

Pilot7576

BTW Navy kicked some Airforce a$$ again...that makes it five in a row....

Let me guess....cancel the 757 order, now we will go with the A319 to keep the French happy. FCIF for a new head of the A319 training department. The FAA will announce a delay in the age 65 deal. ALPA will flip back to being against it. The MD-727 will be announced and will be a two engine version to top it off. No more new hires until the summer of 09. We're overstaffed and there will be vacation buy back in all seats. You can't buy this kind of entertainment.

Can you say Cologne?!?!

if you opt for CBA version you still get equalized , that's mandatory good deal now

Since the CBA dosen't have STV in it, I guess invol STVs are optional too. BTW which option is he taking?

Why not a Cologne hub?
 

Manfred (the FRA limo driver who seems to run the entire operation there) has said for some time that he expected FedEx to open a European hub in Cologne.

He says:

1. Better weather than FRA ...

2. Doesn't have FRA curfew issues ...

3. Cheaper landing fees than FRA ...

4. UPS has their European hub there

Maybe FedEx should hire Manfred to run the entire European operation. It would be a good thing for the pilots if they did. Manfred takes very good care of us :D

I'm thinking that the company realized that they don't have to offer $2700/mo to get an LOA to pass here.

Look for a new, CGN LOA, with a $270/mo allowance.

That should bring it down around the 51st percentile.