LOA talk at FDX
 

We believe that we are over-manned due to 4 factors: 1) The Economy and the resultant reduced volume and consolidation. 2) Federal Age change legislation and the reduced number of retirements. 3) An aggressive transition from 3 to 2-person aircraft. 4) Significant productivity enhancements brought on by the optimizer.

Hey what about 5) DW

Take a shack lead! They NEVER mention DWs "right thing to do" as a cause. DW created a "top down" manning problem all by himself but seems reluctant to take credit for it. Probably pops champagne with his over 60 bros in private so as not to upset the unwashed? Wonder how many of the retirement eligible DC-10 S/Os would be hangin' it up vice serving coffee on the slave ship. Of course it would still be their choice and they could still have a job if they wanted it but.......Foxhunter preflighting a 727 with a deferred APU in MEM in August.........even he ain't crazy..................well?

I would add siginificant productivity enhancements given up in contract 2006. Although it is very closely related to your number 4.

One point...if margins on domestic service are less than 7%, how much do we want to "take back" from the optimizer? I'm not disputing that FDX is still a profitable enterprise, but trying to extract gains from our lowest margin area is going to be tough. Raise the cost there too much and we'll see more pressure to truck the goods. Granted, FDX Ground has its own issues, but even with Diesel at 4.80 the trucks are not our friends.

International? Yeah...we can squeeze there. There's room. But domestic yields don't invite a huge "unwinding" of the optimizer. Not saying we can't do some stuff to allieviate some issues, but protecting the goose is still important.

Albie.....FedEx pays good money for people to come up with ideas like that....and that someone is neither you nor me....we get bannanas to fly the aircraft. FedEx likes ex-mil guys because like a hooker from the third world, (even though you are in the Big BX), it is hard to forget sometimes where you came from.

Your five o'clock shadow is showing....pick up the razor.

From a former Officer, now FedEx "Enlisted guy"

:D

I'm speechless.

Normally you're pretty astute, but you're either flying some good trips, or you don't realize over the last few years how much the optimizer has hammered out of all our collective hides. Think about it: if you squeeze another leg out of 4,700 pilots several days a week, it has a lot more effect than the ND's, the 100 or so retirements we eat this year, or blaming it on DW. Layovers are shorter and total legs have increased. This is a fact.

IF we're overmanned...that's reason #1 why.

Good observation.

Not arguing, and when they develop the star track transporter we are all screwed. But when we make things more efficient for the company that makes furloughs (or blg reductions) more likely in hard times and we hire less dudes in good times. If they want efficiencies make them pay instead of giving them up for free as we did in the last contract.

Albie, you seem to think more like management than a line pilot. Just an observation.

When FX was making more $$ we didnt share in the spoils as much as I think we should have. Now that they are making less of a profit, I dont expect to pay for it. Let the bonuses and compensation of the higher ups take a hit...for once.

I feel that our Reps need to think more about our well being than the Companies. Until, that is, when things get really tight on the profit margins. Some of the "pro" company things you say might be best left unsaid! FX is doing fine at the moment. And with the LOA, they are doing better than they have a right to with respect to FDA's.

Your job should be to fly the plane the best you can and represent your block the same. Let the Company worry about their minor problems.

Star track? Is that the show with Colonel Kirk and Dr. Spock?

Spell checker said it was OK.

Are you hawking LK's job?

1. Not true. Managers think about doing whatever they can to please the guy above them so they'll get promoted. I don't think like a manager, I think like an OWNER. I'm a guy who runs two businesses...one makes money and money loses money hand over fist. I have probably fired or let go more people in the last year than about 90% of the FDX crew force. I am very sensitive to controlling costs, as failing to do loses jobs. I have also cut a host of services (specifically horse boarding) as the margins are too low to warrant the headaches. Anytime you get margins less than about 8-9%, you start looking at other things to do with capital. While the "real" numbers and "real" costs can be argued, knowing where a company makes money or does NOT make money is important. ALPA E&FA are pretty good at looking at that stuff, and so far...they indicate what FDX says is basically the truth.

There are certainly some "stupid" and unsavory issues with the optimizer. I think we can tweak and adjust some of the more onerous issues. However, just saying "it stinks its not like it was in 1998 and we need to set it back..." probably is also unrealistic. I'm not telling you that because I LIKE the way things are...hell I'm moving to the MD11 as the Q of life on the 727 just ain't that great even at 30% anymore. I'm telling you that because I understand how it feels when you need to curtail expenses during downturns or when you need to cut services when you get priced out of the market.

Horse analogy: Everyone wants their horse to be boarded at $200 or less a month. A simple fact is that with hay at $6-7 bucks a bale, feed at 10-12 bucks a bag, utilities and insurance where they are, you simply can't make any money at $200. At one point I had almost 20 boarders. When I got my barn board ranged from $225-300 based on type of stalls, etc. I loved getting $5000 a month or more in board. However, around the first of the month, when I priced my shavings at $900 a load, insurance at $300 a month, feed at $1500, hay at $1800, and so on I quickly discovered I was subsidizing lots of folks horse activity (and having many of them b1tching about various issues at the same time). My pastures we beat down, I replaced several $100 gates when horses would freak and break them, as well as a host of other miscelleous expenses. In short, I was PAYING folks to keep their horses at my place. A year later, I board three horses. To keep your horse on my farm is $400, and wormers, colic preventives etc are extra. The good news is I make money now, and I deal with a LOT less BS. The customers I have are solid, pay their bills, and appreciate having the quality of the equestrian center. However...here's the rub: There are only a handful that can pay that amount! The other customers have moved their horses into less desirable places, and given up having nice stalls, several tack rooms, muliple riding rings, etc. This is sort of what we face at FedEx...as we raise prices to protect margins we WILL see business drop some. Do we really want to drive our own core businesses over to ground, the post office, or even to our 2 or 3 day service? What IS good about times like these is they cull the competition, setting us up for success down the road. I know, for instance, that there is another stable doing boarding near mine that has drawn some of our former boarders. Those folks have decided the CAN board a horse for $25-30 bucks of profit every month. Since they lease/rent the land vice own it, they dont' really care if they over-graze the land and drive the facility into the dirt. Come fall, when the grass quits growing, they'll face a couple choices. First--they can stiff arm the owner (which is what I suspect) and plead their case to hang on for a few months before they get evicted. Second, they can buy more hay and feed (since the pasture will be dead) and eat the higher costs...basically working for free or perhaps even taking a loss. Or...they can raise prices...and now charge what I had to charge to make a "fair" profit. But they'll still have an inferior product, and if they match my prices folks will be pretty upset and might leave them. The "high margin" product in horses are lessons and training. We are doing that now, and having fun in the process. I think some of our domestic service is similar to horse boarding, but international looks a lot more like the higher margin lessons and training. I suspect there is room there to make siginficant gains.

2. Wish you could have been a fly on the wall in our last meeting. We are working hard to do all the things you want reps to do... I agree the LOAs are substandard. I have already said so publically many times and will work hard to improve them...when we can. I'm also personally committed to doing nothing that is considered "concessionary" and protecting your rights to make as much money as possible.

3. My job is to enforce the contract. I (and we) are doing that, and also doing the best we can to offer new suggestions to the company that we feel honor the contract, protect pilots jobs, and potentially improve everyone's quality of life. Since the message line is out, it won't be spilling the beans to say we offered a very reasonable ealry retirement package to the company along with a host of other ideas to help alleivate short term manning issues. Trust me when I say our ideas our a lot more palatable to the masses than the alternatives offered.

Controlling costs isn't bad for us. Failing to capitalize on the profits when we do our job well is the threat. I'm all for divying up the pie and taking a bigger piece for the pilots. What we all have to do, however, is make sure we do all we can to have as much pie to fight over as possible.

As always--ready to chat with anyone on these issues. I'm not the company's stooge...we got areas we need to improve. I just wanted to point out undoing the optimizer probably isn't going to be the best first choice for fixing things. I'm in AFW weeks 2-4 of this month, and picked up an Indy turn week 3. Schedule and phone number are in VIPS if you want to chat, call BS on me, or just have fun talking over lunch. I really am enjoying having the chance to serve you, and welcome any feedback or ideas.

I'll close with this...I just found out a friend was killed at Nellis today. He was my number 2 man in a fini flight at one of my ops squadrons. Life is precious...don't get too wrapped up on stupid stuff, and go hug your spouse and kids. They'll still love you long after the fire trucks have hosed you down on your taxi in....

Burn the place down...

Limos for everyone. Single leg departures only. $200 an hour for everyone!

Does that answer that? FWIW...I got stir crazy on vacation and picked up a one day O&B my first day off. Day of trip had 3/5 in the house sick with some sort of stomach virus and called in sick. Sick close to vacation is a flag, and although he was VERY decent about it I did get a call from LK and an email from my ACP...

So in short...I have no desire to ever call anyone who is on sick leave. I have no desire to sit in an office if I can avoid it. I'm happiest working the farm with my girls, flying my GA plane (geez...that's getting dangerous), or enjoying some of the water sports NW Florida offers. And I also hope after my block 7 term is up I can go piddle around back on the line unmolested.

I try to shoot straight with you guys. One of the campaign points I made was my business experience. I'm trying to say that I "get" some of what the company is facing. There are hundreds of other things they do that irk me (accepted fares, etc) and we'll work on them...but geez if I say anything positive about the company it seems you brand me as turncoat. I don't think that is really the case here...

Brother, you know I'm just giving you a hard time.

No offense taken by anyone's comments...I appreciate the chance to serve.

If I start to dingle this up I won't make you go through so many hoops to recall me...I promise...

Albie,

As much as I respect your insight on horse boarding and the respective "margins are too low to warrant the headaches"...I can't believe that I'm hearing this from you.

I don't need individuals representing me that are looking out for the companies profits...THEY pay alot of people, quite well, for that. I'm looking for a representative that will try to eke out the last friggin' penny for me, that the company will take from someone else. I don't give a crap if it's a manager, a driver, a mechanic, customer or friggin' shareholder!!! They just raised the GD dividend, again. And, you're trying to tell me to suck it up? The company's margins are down? Give me a friggin break!! You're suppose to represent our interests!!

I'd bet that the increased dividends were probably covered by the optimizer.

me Me ME ME ME me me me. Just warming up my vocal chords....:rolleyes:

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that our representatives were expected to advocate giving up working conditions to increase the shareholder's dividends. Many companies that are feeling a pinch, either reduce or discontinue those dividends. They don't raise them.

And, no one voted for a CBA that included a letter from our NC and our MEC that directed our SIG to not dispute the cranking up of the optimizer.

I would agree. Not trying to bust Albies chops; just trying to point out that I feel his job here is to fly and represent his block. Everyone could come up with their own analogies, but it is irrelevant. Our job as pilots is to fly like a pro, and our job as union members is to realize that the Company looks out for their bottom line, sometimes at our expense. Believe nothing from them until verified.

Ditto, again.

Saying something "positive about the company" is different than defending the optimizer gains for the company. When you do that, your going to get some well thought out responses. And, some cheap shots from the less verbose of us. I know now I should have asked if you wanted PC's job instead of LK's.:D
Everybody here gets what the company is facing: Drive down cost. And we'll help (fuel sense).We just don't want it taken out of our quality of life or paychecks since we didn't see any bonuses during years and years of record profits.

Stole this from the Majors board but thought it appropriate here when looking at any BLG cuts or getting F/O's to fill HKG under the FDA LOA.

http://bp1.blogger.com/_rp9FGKh7iNg/...0/image001.gif

Dilbert for our next MEC President!

Its funny how pilots swear up and down that if things were just done there way, everything would be better, lol. I recently overheard a guy saying that if he had a chance to build an airport (not a small field but a multi-runway) this is how he would have done it.

I think when we are in a fight to be economically viable that we should liberalize are contract as to allow for proper cost measures. As a boeing dude I have no problem with the lines being higher on the MDs, as long as it makes economic sense. That seems like a small price to pay.

I give it three postings max before I get the cheap shots, backwards logic, and teen-aged girl passion rage.

Now as for VEBA, that should be the first thing that we cut!

I would cheap shot you and call you a teen age girl if I knew what the he!! you were talking about. Are you saying it should be OK to have DC-10 lines at 49 hours blg and MD lines at 85 hours blg?

Albie,

There's a reason the IRS has entirely different rules for how often a horse 'business' has to turn a profit.... it's not much of a business.

And take this from someone who had two cutting horses for a long long time: Never ever own anything that eats while you sleep.

I rest my case...

Pilots are so predictable, lol.

I knew someone would take things to the extreme. Let me guess the next thing youll tell me is we shouldnt have any pilots at all that way our costs would really be down.

Albie, your post about saying anything good about the company was spot on. These guys are spring loaded to hate anyone that disagrees with them.

In leaner times I opt for productivity over equality FOR THE MOST PART. In fatter times I opt for equality over productivity FOR THE MOST PART.

Ill give it two post this time.

Albie and Young Jack, I see your point. Here's mine. From approx. 1 year prior to the Tiger merger (1989) until the ram-rod contract of 1998, FDX pilots didn't receive 1 single raise during a 10 year period! With a 2.5-3% inflation rate, that's a cool 25-30% paycut. The contract raises of the last 2 contracts have not beat the inflation rate over the same period.

FDX Corp pays many Millions for FDX Field, PGA Golf, NASCAR, FDX Kinko's name changes, while netting more than a Billion Dollars annually.

Those INTL packages from China do not terminate their trips in MEM. Those same pkgs continue to RSW, TLH, SLC, and other domestic locales. The INTL pkgs require the domestic system.

With a Billion dollar profit for FDX, woefully weak FDA LOA, and no Tiger merger COLA catch-up provisos, I'm in no mood to feel sorry for Fred and his 11 cent dividend.


Common Stock Beneficially Owned
Number Number of Percent of
Name of Beneficial Owner of Shares Option Shares(1) Class(2)

Frederick W. Smith 19,285,224 (3) 2,781,250 7.07 %

(19,285,224) Shares X dividend (.11) = $141,374 X 4 quarters = $565,500 per/yr and you haven't sold any shares yet. Residual income. year after year after year.

stock price of 79 x shares owned = $1,523,532,696

the sympathy tears for the company are just not welling up.

ALPA often protects its members from themselves.

Today it protects me from the whims of Young Jack

Did you call me a teenage girl? Do you like Gladiator movies?

Gee how about world peace and an end to hunger? I'll bet your for those too. Reread my post, I didn't call you anything or attack. I simply was trying to get you to define your rather vague statement. Just how much leeway are you willing to give Fred?

Here is my post again please note the ? at the end makes it a question not a statement.
I would cheap shot you and call you a teen age girl if I knew what the he!! you were talking about. Are you saying it should be OK to have DC-10 lines at 49 hours blg and MD lines at 85 hours blg?

I'll second Busboy's comments. When our own "union" reps start feeding us the regurgitated company lkoolaid, you know we're about ready to get kicked in the teeth again!

How about 50 and 84, or 51/83, maybe 51.5/82.5..Do you get where Im going? The contract sets a plausible benchmark in which we will operate such as the 48/60 rule. We could argue why not 49/59 or 48/61 till the cows come home. However, the broader goal of this stipulation is that we all take a hit before we let any man go. That is a good thing. Now, as I stated since we are in an economic slow period I would prefer that we dont bang the equality drum as hard and focus more on what is and more importantly what is not profitable. There does come a point (Im a junior non military, no side business guy) where you have to furlough, again this 48/60 rule is a good blunt instrument that addresses that concern. Now if the company can show that a particular fleet is not generating the revenue, all else being equal than yes I would say this aircraft group is going to have less BLG associated with it than another aircraft group. I look at the BLG difference not so much as an attack on a particular pilot group but addressing where we get our most bang for the buck from AC profitability. As I read the email, there would still be no furloughs no drop below the 48/60 just a difference in BLG between the AC groups.

Everybody is worried about euthansia, its the youth in America I worry about!

Is LK the new sick monitor?

Not me. I think we are still making money. I think we signed a contract that limited how much we can make in good times and limits how little we make it bad times. In January the DC-10 goes away (AKA generates zero revenue). Some DC-10 guys don't have class till July (darn seniority), with your logic they should be paid zero and not call it a furlough.

FDXLAG is correct. We, as a pilot group, are not responsible for pilot hiring, manning, or furloughing. Regardless of what we do to ourselves, when the time comes the company will furlough.

That being said, we should expect and demand that the company abide by the terms of the contract. 68/85. When they think they can run an airline at 48/60, then we talk about mitigation. Good times or bad, management should fly the contract just like us.

Right or wrong, the easiest place for management to find money is from its people. UAL, AMR, DAL, NWA has proved this over and over. Lets not let FDX do the same thing.

Productivity changes now will persist into fatter times as you put it. Optimizer gains will never go away. Let the company man the MD11 for a higher BLG and the Boeing lower and they will just be slow to upgrade for a long time.

The optimizer has been cranking away even with BLG buyup going on. Ever wonder why? Because with BLGs low disputed pairings get flown. This is the perfect time to crank it up without us pushing back.

The company now has to buy up lines as the optimzer extracts more productivity out of us.

Talk to us again about different BLGs when the optimizer is turned down.

Aint never going to happen :eek:

When the company stops making money (they still are not just as much as they would like) that is when you offer plans to mitigate the losses - until then they can live by the contract just like we are required to do!

You said it better than I did.

Hey, gas is up, food is up, and my margins at home just aren't what they used to be. I need some relief from the provisions we negotiated by contract. I thought they would only apply when I was saving a lot of money at home. Now that I'm not, the company either has to pay me more per hour, or not make me have to show up to work every day that I am supposed to so that I can go work that other job.

As they told me when they wouldn't cater a sequence that routinely didn't operate as published,......that's not in the contract.

I thought we gave each other our word, looked each other in the eye, and promised, come hell or high water, we'd abide by it. Least that's what John Wayne taught me.....maybe that's why they say in training, "We don't 'John Wayne' it around here."

:D