FDX New Hires in Jan
 

Word is that there will be a new hire class for some of the corporate and schoolhouse guys that will be coming to the line as SO's in Jan. At least three from corporate and as many as 20 from the schoolhouse. Apparently they did their three years and are being allowed to make the jump if they wish.

Interesting that the company would put them in to the MEM engineer slot instead of HKG.

I guess we really aren't overmanned.:confused:

That's okay, we'll accept a BLG reduction to take on these new bodies, excess bids galore, STV, et al., all with nary a peep from your elected union officials. Who was it that said its not how many peeps in front of you but how many are behind; just in time for contract openers:confused:

Welcome Aboard
 

If true I take it as good news. Not sure if I would want the union having much of a say on when and who the company hires.

If true ... is this yet another case of the company taking care of the MEM brother-in-law (FLEX/MGT/Special projects/Check Airman) club that ALWAYS seem to get taken care of?

I'm not surprised :confused::confused::confused:

Not sure if that would be a wise move. I'd hate to be the bottom 2 or 3 guys here. Last in, First out. I hear some are passing it since they can come anytime after the three year mark.

Look for the BLG to be dropped in March. More info to follow..........

The company is not being benevolent or "taking care" of these guys. It was in their contract when they got hired 3 years ago that they could come to the line, if they choose, as long as there are no pilots furloughed. All were offered Hong Kong. None were forced to take it.
BTW, got my info from one of these guys last week. He was on my JS doing his annual FAM ride.

Professional & corporate new hires
 

Interesting that some of these potential new hires are considering not coming on board at the first opportunity. Delaying the process puts them down the seniority list when/if they decide to come to the line. First year pay is definitely less than pro or corp pay but they will eventually have to bite that bullet anyway. I suspect they want to avoid getting hired and then be the first ones to be furloughed. Wonder if anyone is whispering to them about the probability of a furlough in the near future...that would be a good piece of information to have when making the transfer to the line decision.

Being "benevolent" or "taking care" of these guys would be telling them straight up there is a large chance they could be furloughted if they chose to transition to line flying right now --- IF there is in fact a pending furlough.

To do otherwise, would hurt the company's reputation towards future corporate/flex hires ---- and doesn't seem to be the way FDX does business.

If these guys are brought on board in Jan, I think it would be a good sign --- not a negative one.

(OBTW --- haven't heard any need for SO line training beyond the over 65 DC-10 SOs transitioning to the 727 in early spring)

I heard they were told that if there is a furlough, they can't go back to their old job either. That is why some are passing for now.

Sure. And look forward to the Cubs winning the World Series, the Dow hitting 25,000, and me kicking Giselle out for snoring in the next 12 months.

More info to follow. :rolleyes:

Well, I'll admit, I've never actually seen a Professional Instructor employment contract. i was always under the impression that they had the option of coming to the line "if we were hiring at the time their 3 years was up"? That's slightly different than your interpretation of "if there are no pilots furloughed"?

Anybody know for sure what the deal is?

Hiya Mark,

How's it going ?

Why put them in HKG, when the TDY F/O lines are better then the ones given to the ones based there...JMHO.

Cheers,

FF

Do ya need a Lear Type to get a corporate gig?
:cool:

It is spelled out in the contract, each contract signed is different depending on the mood of Mgmt at the time - even if you saw the contract of someone signed on last month, that does not mean it is the same as the one signed last year.

As far as the "brother-in-law" comment - HA HA HA. Go ask some of the professional instructors as if they feel they are in the same club as the flexes and LCA's, etc.

And, last, any pro who refuses to come to the line right now only loses the seniority from the few other internals who do move to the line. Even if they delay the move, they will more than likely be in a class before any external new hires when hiring does start. My take is the loss of 2 or 3 numbers is not worth the risk of BLG reduction and/or furlough. That is just my take.

My impression was that the min quals for corporate are the same as the line - what is competitive, I have no idea.

Have had many professional instructors for training in the last two weeks. They are allowed to come to the line when their three year contract is up, however, if they choose to stay in their current job, they may. The kicker is that if they choose to stay, they cannot go to the line until FedEx begins to hire again. The first MD11 pro under this plan chose to stay last week.

"At least three from corporate and as many as 20 from the schoolhouse" If this quote is accurate then the lost of seniority associated with delaying the transfer to the line could easily be a lot more than 2-3 positions if most of the 23 professionals/corporates decide to come to the line. Giving away 15-20 seniority positions could be a crucial deciding factor in future aircraft bids, upgrades, vacation, monthly bids, etc. If they don't come to the line on time, are they still covered by the original contract or do they sign a new one? Tough decision but I think I would come to the line and get on the seniority list unless I had some really solid intell saying it was a bad deal. The fact one pro has already declined to come to the line suggests this may have already happened and the intell was not favorable. I don't know how he/she could have made an educated decision since our Union, CP, Mgt and VPs haven't shared anything of substance about 2009 crew manning, other then a potential excess bid. JMHO

Not picking on you MadPuppy. You can't help looking at the situation with your own eye. We all do that.

But giving up 20 or even 100 seniority numbers, IMHO, may be the smart play here. If said individual has a pretty steady job with, perhaps, mouths to feed, a mortgage to pay, and auto loans in this bad economy, why would they give it up for a chance to be furloughed and lose everything they have?

I expect folks to chime in with, "You should always be financially prepared for a furlough, I am." Well, good for you. No sarcasm. Just don't expect everyone to have the gifts that have been bestowed upon you. Not everyone can take a furlough right now. Where are you going to get a job right now? Before you answer, really look around.

BTW, I do expect the pros to have better knowledge than the rest of us if the company is being straight with them. I hope they do the right thing and advise each pro realistically so they don't fall off the cliff financially. The powers that be don't think we have a right to it. That's debatable. Not much we can do about it anyway.

There is no way the company would allow pros and corp guys to come over if we were going to furlough. Yes, we are overmanned...for now. They are probably just scaring these guys because they would rather keep them in their current position and not have to hire more pros and corp pilots. It costs FedEx more $$$ if they go to the line.
I got it from a higer up that 26 months is the "magic number" that we would have to furlough for it to make financial sense. We probably could have furloughed over a year ago, but, to furlough now and have guys fly on min hours with no OT (you guys wouldn't pick up open time would you?) for the next 26 months is ridiculous. We will be + 8 A/C in 2 years from now and that includes heavy staffing on the 777.
My guess, will will be hiring a year from now...but what do I know, I'm 30 from the bottom?

How do the number of DC10 crewmembers compare to the 777 bid? There are a few over 60 guys coming to the back seat of the 727. After that it looks like a wash. The 777 comes just in time to suck up the bulge created by the DC10 retirement. Almost like someone planned it that way. ;)

So the only positions significantly overmanned are both A300 seats and 727 SO after the DC10 SOs come over.

Does anyone know what flying the 777 will take? Will it be in addition to the MD11 or take some of the cream off the top? I don't think they want to come up short in the MD11. Which is why they want people to commit to the 777 before anything else changes.

So, barring a further reduction in flying, not much overmanned at all. Almost like it was in Jan '08.

I have never posted on this before, guess I am a lurker. Mayday Mark, in a level response the MEM flex guys getting taken care of.....hmm

Since I am one, let me respond fully. In a four week month I give 15 days, five week 19 days. If I flex to the line then no fly days for 3 months. Therefore if I take vacation on the line (better deal) I go NOQ unless I fly...for free when no make up is available. I have done it more than I care to admit, it is no fun. This was a result of the give back in the last contract. So much for anyone, mgt or union, taking care of the flex crowd.

My marching orders are simple, provide the best training environment to give YOU tools to operate safely. I do my best daily. The one benefit accrued is spending time with my young children at home. This is priceless and I know the sacrifice line crewmembers give with regard to that one.

Mark you are welcome if you live in Memphis or ANC (better lifestyle in domicile) to put your name in, undergo a 2 year upgrade, and reap these benefits. My name is on my post, feel free to PM me with observations. Lets not toss a brick at those who try to enhance your professional life until you think out your comments.

Respectfully
Howard Rhodes

Every thing you said is right on, but you missed a few of the things that get taken care of for the training folks in MEM. If you were a SO flex/ Desigenee,you took a $400 dollar a month pay cut. You now get to train off site at Rday values. There are several 757 instructors who are sacrificing big time just to keep that program running. Don't forget that when these internal hires come onboard they start over at zero for their vacation longivety. AS usual Mark missed the mark. Mayday!!!!!!!!!

Welcome Mr. Rhodes! :)

Once you guys have been here for a while, you'll realize that lack of knowledge, contradictory facts, nor good taste will keep Mayday down.

"Where do we get such men?" (Bridges of Toko Ri):D

Not all professionals lost their vacation longevity when they transferred to the line. Those who went to the line prior to ALPA or maybe it was the FPA contract were allowed to keep their vacation longevity for years served. However, it was taken away by MGT or given away as a bargaining chip by the Union negotiators (depends who you talk to...both blame the other) and all of the professionals in the last 10 or so years start off with no FedEx YOS credit...not sure about the corporate or box kickers who transfer over.

You don't seem to know what you're talking about, or have stated it in a very confusing manner. You make it sound as if no one hired internally gets their full longevity for vacation, and it was recently bargained away. I was in the first post contract class (Aug 99) as an internal. The people in my class started with no time for vacation. The Prof Instructors 4 numbers senior to me, hired pre-Contract and 4 months earlier, have already been on 10 yr vacation for a couple of years. If you were hired prior to the first contract from inside the company (Corporate, Prof Instructor, or even courier,) all your Fedex time counts towards vacation. After that, only time "on the line." As the first contract was the one dictated in the "parking lot disaster," you can't really say it was bargained away. However, since then, niether FPA or ALPA has made any effort to rectify the situation. When I asked why not, I was told it affected to few people to waste affort and bargaining capital on. Sound familiar to all you junior guys?

Might be true for vacation, but for retirement purposes I think their YOS, (2% per year) count.

The company is not "letting" the internals come to the line. They were hired to the line 3 years ago when they were offered employment as internals. FedEx is legally obligated to offer them line positions after their 36 month commitment. Granted since some were hired the agreement has change to "must be hiring externally" instead of "Not furloughing" in the previous iteration. They were strongly encouraged to stay in their present position and sign the "New" agreement (must be externally hiring) instead of metering to the line. If you would like to know how strongly, I encourage you to seek out an internal and ask them. Hong Kong was initially the only seat offered, however, that was changed to MEM S/O recently as the only option so that in the event of a furlough FedEx would not have to pay to move them back.

The decision to meter is complicated and different for each of them. Don't make assumptions about situations you have no specific knowledge of.

That is correct!

If these guys move to the line, will that open up any positions in the SIM Building / Corporate Flight Department?

Yes, all too familiar. But not with respect to seniority, rather with respect to an SFS guy who wanted to go to HKG, under a fair and equatable ex-pat package. "Sorry, you are only 80 guys..."

(apologize for thread creep, would be happy to see new hires in Jan and VERY happy they chose not to go to HKG)

Sadly, I believe a majority of these gentleman are Over "65" guys --- not just Over 60.

The 727 SO #s have taken a big hit as many are now off to training to reclaim their window seats.

While the approx 18, or so, DC10 guys scheduled for the back will push those #s up again this spring/summer, there is also a good chance many of these Over "65" guys may actually call it a career the day before class starts.

There should be a few openings. They may not replace on a one for one basis though.

Answers to what? :confused:

Post 'em!

(...sources too please :) ...welcome aboard)

Nobody likes a tease...