I was caught in traffic yesterday on I5 and with nothing better to do, I look up to see which planes are coming and going. There was a FedEx A300 lumbering in. I got to thinking whether it was full or half empty or something in between. With the economy the way it is and passenger airlines flying planes with empty seats, I wonder if freight has experienced any appreciable difference.

Then I looked down at my soda can insulator that said "less thinking, more drinking." Wise saying that.

 

I have not seen an empty seat on a passanger plane in a long time.

 

Not much difference on the FDX side. I'd say our seats are about as full as ever. In fact, with all the new weekend layovers...I'd say the jumpseats are even more full.

 

Sorry, once again, I did not make myself clear. I meant to ask if the volume of freight is down, not whether the jumpseats are empty.

[Note: now might be a good time to ask APC management to increase the emoticons by adding one where the eyeballs circle independently with one going clockwise and the other going counterclockwise. That's how I feel on most days. ]

 

That's a hard one for a pilot to answer. We are given the weight & balance form, and on it it has the total weight of the cargo, and if there are any empty positions on the airplane. I've seen some of the ULD's, or cans, that are only 1/4 full, and others so full, only a Tetris master could have filled, but we really don't have a way to see how "full" we are in terms of volume.

Overall, in the past 2 years, I personally haven't seen the average total weight drop. And we still divert planes every night to pick up stuff that didn't fit on the scheduled airplane. But keep in mind, freight volume/weight varies greatly each day of the week as well. Our management has said that overall freight is on a slight downturn now, but people will still need that special widgit overnight no matter what.

FedEx is constantly changing aircraft type, matching size to need on a monthly basis, so if you have an A-300 going into your city, either a 727 can't take all your freight or the A-300 will make a stop enroute to a hub.

Another thing to keep in mind, some cities that only support turboprops or RJ's on the passenger side might get a heavy freighter. Size of the city is irrelevant, it's the volume of the freight that dictates the aircraft size.

 

Ooops. Once again, I forgot to use the

I knew what you meant.

 

Yield is a greater measure of an airline's health. A full 757 with passengers paying an average of $99 per seat produces less revenue than a 757 with 70% load factor and an average seat price of $400.

Cargo is the same. I have not seen an overall drop in volume and weight, but I do not know if we have the pricing power we did 2 years ago.

Rott

 

How many seats do you have on the widebodies at FDX? Thanks in advance.

NB

 

Sure wish the family could go, but not gonna happen! Jumpseats on the widebodies vary from about 2-8 depending on aircraft and configuration (crew rest airplane, solid bulkhead, flip down/ironing board in cockpit,...)