The big issue that I see with this move is that I might be reporting to someone that doesn't operate the same machine I do. These guys are chronically out of touch anyway, but now he (or God forbid she) won't be able to relate in any way. These are the kinds of decisions that keep me from taking managers or senior leadership (and I use that term VERY loosely) seriously.

Age 65 (ahem) can't get here fast enough.

I was told when I got hired here by a good friend that FedEx is the land of "change for the sake of change." He was right.

 

A quick review of the current ACPs will result in the finding that EVERY new ACP hired since OR and SJ assumed their respective positions came from "non-line-flying" jobs. OR came from the schoolhouse after being there for a long time. SJ came from the schoolhouse after being there for a long time. BH used to be in charge of Bus training in the schoolhouse, went back to being a flex and then migrated to an ACP position. LK came from the position as Grievance Committee Chairman for the Union. PD has been an ACP for over 5 years.
No personal attacks on any of them. How familiar are they with what it's like to fly the kind of "optimized" schedules we are flying now?

"Put yourself in SJ's shoes and decide for yourself who you'd hire...a guy you had worked with who had an established reputation; who had been endorsed by guys you knew and respected, or an unknown line pilot whom you had never heard anything about."

I personally would make sure a got a cross-section of the pilots I am supposed to be managing and dealing with. That would require me to go outside the group of people I was comfortable with and actually take a chance on an "unknown line pilot" whom I had never heard about. He obviously had been doing his job earning his paycheck doing what the vast majority of us do here. Fly the freight full time. I'll take my chances with him if I call in sick or fatigued.

 

I understand your point, and I think it has merit, but I think where we differ is that I believe that all the people you mention did, at one time in their career at FedEx, fly the line full time...for years. If they have lost touch with that part of their profession, and it negatively affects their ability to be good decision-makers, then shame on them. In the end, all management, regardless of their roots, is ultimately tempted by the dark side of the force...it's the personality, character, and qualifications of the individual that count, not where they came from immediately preceding their hiring into a management positon.

 

Again subic, I am not personally attacking any of the folks who work in management. As a line pilot with no experience doing anything but flying the line full time, I have no desire to do anything else.
I strongly feel though that a group of ACPs, an RCP and an SCP who have not flown the line full time for more than 5 years is at great risk of not relating to or having credibility with the line pilots they represent, discipline and manage. Their integrity, professionalism and honesty have nothing to do with losing touch with what most of us do for a living, especially under "optimized" schedules.
I stand by my original satement you felt was too harsh which was, " Guess if you want to work for the SCP you have to come from the schoolhouse.(name one he's hired who hasn't) Nuthin like understanding intimately what it's like to fly the line full time when you are considering disciplinary steps against a pilot."(things have changed an awful lot in the last 5 years for line pilots, don't you agree?)

 

The reason you stand out is there are so few in flex who have that much line experience under their belt. Easy to figure out.

 

Ok, I think I understand you now. In order to help management relate to the pilot group, you're suggesting 5 year term limits for flight management, right? This concept has been tossed around before and I think it too has merit.

 

Line pilots should not be able to hide out in non-line flying jobs for the majority of their career. If you dont want to be a line pilot give up your number. I think after five years of not being on the line you should have to go back to the line for five years. Of course management would never agree to this. It would not allow them to keep their people in place.

 

I think the desire to have a line dog in the ACP slots is a good one, but unrealistic. Someone has to flex, DO, MEC, ACP, etc... These positions take a significant number of pilots. The career non-line dogs are probably 80-90% of applicants for management. They want to drive cubicles. I don't want that job and I don't know a lot of pilots who do. The career desk drivers should drive desks and we would have a safer airline.

 

Scenario: A three (wo)man crew has their collective heads up and locked. They do something stupid or make an honest mistake. They get the call to have a visit with their ACP. The captain has a last name that starts with A, the f/o's starts with L and the rfo/engineer's starts with Z. The captain's ACP fires him, the f/o gets 2 weeks of without pay and the rfo/engineer gets a slap on the wrist and buys his ACP a cup of coffee because they flew together someplace years ago.

What a plan.

 

Sounds stupid to me too. When I call my ACP I want to talk to someone who relates to my job not my last name. Right now I call the MD-11 ACP he knows what I'm talking about he's been there and done it. Of course we are lucky right now to have a pilot for an ACP and not someone who has been hiding in the training dept or out on sick leave but stays in the training dept. Can't wait to call from China/Europe or anywhere away from Memphis and talk to the old 727 S/O guy to get some answers.
By the time he calls to get some answers from S.M. it will be too late.