lifestyle of a fedex pilot
 

FDX pilots can you give an idea of what life is like as a Fedex pilot that:

Commutes out of IAH, regards quality of life over pay, and would prefer as much (no brainer here) day flying as possible.

How is moral there? I read in a another post regarding
FDX is a great company but you are not working for nice people. (I'm assuming this is management) a referal was made about a good ole Bubba smiling at you then stabbing you in the ribs the first chance they get.

How many days off a month can one expect? Just how bad is reserve? Is it possible to commute while on reserve?


THANKS!

Good Money/Sleep Deprivation/Early Demise = FedEx
 

:eek: Bottom line to answer all your questions ------> seniority is everything. Jumpseats are plentiful and off-line jumpseats are readily available from IAH.

You won't be able to show up on day one and live the "easy life" for the rest of your career. Night flying will be extensive your first year, assuming you are a B-727 FE. Reserve pilot utilization in the 727 is very high. You will be working your arse off!

Morale is not good. Mainly due to extended negotiations while record profits and executive bonuses are abundant. This is THE BEST airline on the planet for current profitability, growth, and advancement. Our newest 727 Captain is under 4 years on the property. Widebody F/O within a year. 2nd year pay for widebody F/O is approx 120K. Not bad. Can be and should be better based on the contributions we make to record profitability and the schedules we endure.

However, just because you are the prettiest TURD in the punchbowl, still makes you a TURD. What I'm saying is this -- the airline pilot lifestyle and benefits of the past are dwindling all around you, so FedEx is still an airline job -- some just stink more than others. Capeche?.

Management at ANY airline will smile at you while plunging the dagger into your forehead. This will continue until the Apocalypse. Read "Flying the Line" Parts 1 and 2 as well as "Confessions of a Union Buster". Tremendous insight into the history of airlines and management goons who will never change.

Who knows what the future holds, but compared to the pax world, FredEx and UPS are pretty sweet options. First year pay at UPS is criminal and advancement is significantly slower. Smaller airline, fewer airplanes, fewer pilots, less growth. Not a slam on the Brown Boys, just facts.

FedEx: 80% of the time, it's a sweet job. 20% of the time you wished you sold insurance and worked 9 to 5.

You take the good with the bad like any job. You get hired here and you have hit the proverbial jackpot. Good Luck.

NKA

Plus the chicks dig our leather jackets:D :eek:

I'm 34, what do you guys think the average age for new hires is at Fedex.

I have no problem being the bottom turd and scheduling's biatch. I feel it is a rite of passage and life should be rough. I was just concerned if 3 years down the line if the schedules still are so bad that you can't tell what day of the week it is. I currently work at expressjet and very senior, life is good. All day trips, home every night while making 90 grand a year. I'm feeling the pinch to get to an airline though that I know I will be with for the rest of my career.

I know a few guys that went over to FDX and were quite a bit younger than me, thats my only worry. If FDX has a pattern of hiring very young guys I could get behind the curve.

thanks for all your suggestions and comments.

I think the average age of new hires is mid to upper 30's. There have been guys hired in their mid to upper 40's. So I don't think you'd be behind the power curve. There's a lot of hiring going on now so senoirty (especially in the back of the 72) is moving up pretty quick. I stayed on the panel for a couple years and the schedule was pretty good. After a few months you should be able to hold B reserve which I feel is pretty easy. Will you be home every night, possibly (there's quite a few out and back's). Will it be all day flying, no, but that's increasing. But life is still pretty good. The great thing is one man's trash is another man's treasure and there's almost something for everyone.

koz200,

thanks for this valuable info, is it possible in your opinion to commute on B reserve? I'm not sure what that means, I'm assuming it is something along the lines of long call reserve.

At age 34, you'd actually be ahead of the age curve. I'm 32 and was the second youngest guy in my class. We had one 30 yr old, three or four 32 year olds, the rest were mid to upper 30's, with a handful of guys in their early 40's. One guy was 48 and the oldest was 52. If you check out the retirement chart, there's only about 60 guys 32 and under right now. I've heard FDX is big on retired military guys and/or older guys due to the lower pension and lower ending salary by the time they turn 60. Of course, that could just be a cynical rumor as well. As for lifestyle, it depends on where you live. If you live in MEM, you could be home every night within the first 4 months or so. You'll sit reserve initially, then you could get the out and backs with a 4 off, 3 on schedule. If you're a commuter, it's much more difficult to be home every night. You'll have to be one of the most senior guys in your particular city in your particular seat in order to get the deadheads to your city every month.

B reserve window starts at 12 noon and goes until 12 midnight and the show times are 1330 to 0130 (1.30 to show at the least). For me ( and a lot of guys) it's easier to stay up late rather than get to bed really early and start flying early 0130+ in the morning until mid morning. Often on B reserve you'll launch in the afternoon. People can/do commute as new hires (there are tons of crash pads avaliable) but if you're wanting to deadhead only from a particular city, (as Deuce said),you'll have to be pretty senior. When I was hired only three people in class were local to Memphis. As far as the long call reserve, there is R-24 which allows 24 hrs to show time, but there's only a few lines like that. Best thing to do is to get a Secondary line (where you actually hold trips) and then trip-trade to make your schedule better. IMO, it's better to have a crappy line and be able to trade better than have reserve and not have the ability to trade.

Bottom line. IF you can get on at FedEx, make the jump. 60%+ of pilots commute and if you can suck it up for a bit, you can commute even being junior. It might not be the last job you'll ever have (I know people who said that getting hired at United in 1999-2000) but I think it (and UPS) is about as stable as you can get in the industry.

How many years will it take you to get into the MIA base? What percentage of trips start with a deadhead to an outstation?

-Sike

Sike,

I don't fly for FedEx but I do know they don't have a base at MIA.

http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/a...2005030132.htm

Maybe you are thinking of UPS.

Yor right about the pace of moving up the Seniority list when comparing FDX to UPS. 4 -5 years at FDX, 10-11 years at UPS. BIG Difference. No make that Huge Difference. Hundreds of late 30's and early 40's Captains at UPS. Almost non exsistent retirements. Not like FDX.

Guys just a few more questions,

what is the main goal of the current contract negotiations, is it leaning more toward $ or quality of life?

what are the contractual min days off line holder/reserve?

do any benefits exist regarding family pass travel/ spouse/parents/brothers/sisters?

thanks again,

All the above!!:D
Depends on the length on the month, 28 day line or reserve max work 15 days, 35 day month 19 for both.
Min guarantee days off, 10.

Crappy pass benefits; some for parents (still crappy) none for bro or sis

28 day month max work = 15 days.

10 day off min guar...

so which one is governing. Are you gauranteed to get 13 off in a 28 day period or 10?

Also at FDX can you personal drop a trip if there is good coverage, of course reducing your line value guarntee?

Yes, you can drop trips. The catch is that it's at the companies pleasure. And they have a multitude of reasons that they can throw out to prevent the drop. Their all time favorite is reserve availability, or lack thereof. Some folks drop trips all of the time and are successful at it. I've tried maybe three times in 16 years and been turned down every time. I quit trying a long time ago. I keep my mouth shut and just call Mr. VIPS (our computer system) and tell him I'm sick. Works every time.

As far as your min days off question is concerned, I'm on a trip and don't have my copy of the contract with me. For a reserve guy the numbers are what were quoted. Four week bid= scheduled R days 15 and five week bid= scheduled R days 19. For line holders I'm not sure. The reality is that we work 12-13 days in a four week bid 17-18 in a five week bid month.

But here's the bottom line for you. Quit worrying about the small stuff. If you qualify and have a good contact with the company apply and hope like hell that you get hired. It beats 98% of the jobs that are out there right now. In pretty much every regard.

Good luck.

I pulled up our contract before answering your question so as to be correct. As far as 10 vs 13, here's thing. Our schedules/contract are based on days worked as opposed to days off. The 10 day guar generally comes into play when you have training and/or you have a carryover trip from the previous month. Fedex has no problem with you working your self to death, but they will drop trips if you don't waive your right to at least 10 days off. The reality of most months (as noted in the Ranger post) is your off between 13 and 20 days on a 28 day month and between 16 and 25 (!) on a 35 day month.

I think a quick explanation is required for the 20 off/28 day, 25 off/35 day. the lines that generated those days off were all hard time intl trips, very little TAFB for the hours paid and flown.
Hope that helps.

how many hours do these 30 year old pilots have under their belt before they even think about applying for fed ex?

As long as you meet the mins you can apply, make that should apply.... I wonder how many people get an interview that didn't apply because they thought they did not have enough time? Zero sounds like a good number there! Nothing like self elimination.... Leave the eliminating to the company your applying to.

Know what I mean?

I agree with PastV1!!!!:D

If you have 1500TT & 1000 hrs multi-engine turbine PIC - - Go for it!

If you dont apply, you will never get a call.

The FedEx website has the exact requirements posted.

1500 hours total fixed-wing time as pilot-in-command (PIC) or second-in-command in multi-engine turbo-prop A/C or jet A/C or combination thereof, including a minimum of 1000 hours total fixed-wing pilot-in-command in multi-engine turbo prop A/C or jet A/C or combination thereof.
Note: PIC for this purpose is defined as Captain/Aircraft Commander of record, not simply the sole manipulator of the controls.
Note: FedEx considers only pilot time in fixed wing aircraft toward minimum qualifications. This does not include simulator, helicopter, flight engineer, bombardier, navigator, RIO, EWO, WSO, NFO, or Special Crew.

i was 25 when i got hired with 4500hrs...3000 jet..all civilian...2 civilians in my class of 12...next guy was 29 with 1800tt....all f-18....the rest were old heads....life at FDX?..GREAT!!!....i am enjoying a cigar watching the waves roll in at my longboat key residence....i do live in domicile which makes life easy...probably will be a commuter soon which will make life a little harder... but you should have seen the sunset tonight!!!!!...a little better than watching drive-bys in memphis!....as far as your question about hours i think it all depends what kind of time it is......777 bid coming...then probably an excess which will put things on hold as far as hiring....just build your time up..make some contacts and go for it...

I can't belive no one here has told him he's going to Hong Kong.

Anybody having issues trying to update their FedEx app?

I try to sign is (after the username/password format change) and all is does is loop me back around to the ORIGINAL sign in page.

Ranger, "As far as your min days off question is concerned, I'm on a trip and don't have my copy of the contract with me."

Ranger, just FYI, PDF or Word copies of the CBA are easily downloaded from either the Fedex or ALPA websites (I use the PDF version because of the word and phrase search features that Adobe provides).
Personally, I would be very uncomfortable not having a copy available while I was on a trip. I've got it loaded on my Apple's Dock, so that I can call it up at the drop of a hat.
Having it easily available has allowed me to keep mgmt and scheds from pulling a fast one on me several times over the years.

J,

What's up buddy? Had to move and miss the nice weather down here didn't you!

All depends. I had 4200 hours of military time at age 30 . .but no one was hiring.

Had to wait until age 33 before FedEx was hiring.

Rather than asking . . keep plugging . . because according to everything I hear and read . . it will be a while before the hiring window opens up again. UNLESS . . you have thousands of 'heavy' over water time and don't mind moving to mainland China:eek:

Sounds like someone was passing gas in an orbit, ....or hauling Charmin from Travis to Yakota!:D

They had Charmin at Yokota? Man would that have been nice. We had to use the sand paper at least twice at Kunsan before it was smooth.

That sandpaper was the national toilet tissue of France. That seems to be all that was used there.:eek:

How 'bout "rubber dog poo from Hong Kong"?
'Sounds like' some folks are jealous?:eek:

Define “over”... my aircraft was on the ship’s deck, which was technically over the water, as we transited back and forth across the Atlantic... Let’s see, 12 days multiplied by 24 hours multiplied by however many trips... How many hours do I need again???:D

Hey . . I've known some guys who would log that . . . your choice I guess. You feelin' lucky?

I know I am!! Pullin' 9 g's and betting quarters on the range doesn't hold a candle to autopilot and box lunch's!

Once you have the minimum hours required, that should be good enough to get an interview, IF your sponsor is doing a good job. That said, then it's very important for you to fly the simulator, such that the guys grading your ride feel confident that you actually perform up to the hours that you say you have. In other words, if you show 300 hours IFR time, you're probably not expected to fly the sim as well as someone who shows 2000 hours of instrument time.

AA, why are you pulling 9 g's on the range? Perhaps you need to lay off the g's a little and increase your roll rate, thereby giving yourself a little more time on final. Just a suggestion from a very old hog driver, who was used to 25 cents per bomb and 50 cents for strafe.;)

Time to put an end to the sponsor crap.

Yeah, it's much better to hire guys who no one knows, rather than allowing your current employees to make recommendations. :rolleyes: The whole purpose of the referral system is so that "known entities" can be looked at, with some assurance that they are who they claim they are. That's the main draw of hiring ex-military guys. It's not that they're better pilots, or even that their watches are bigger, it's that their military flying is documented, and as such, is less likely to be incorrect. I know there are exceptions, but for the most part, these, I feel, are the reasons that they like ex-mil guys.

Time to put an end to the meet and greet crap.

Without going into the whole Saturday Night Live biz re ASS-U-ME that you are the ONLY mil guy around, the sponsor/meet and greet, thingy needs to end. Plenty O' good dudes from lots of backgrounds, and diversity is what we need(IMO).

Wow, that old and with that little time? 6000+ hrs, and 24 when I got my hire letter ;-)

Thought it was just me. I can't log in to update anymore either.

Yeah, good point. Because if the guy is coming from another airline, there is NO WAY to verify how long he worked there, or his flight time if they desire :rolleyes:.