I thought it was the other way around. The sponsor may not have flown with you, but could vouch for your character. IE, has known you for a long time, grew up with you, went to school with you, went through OCS/TBS/UPT with you, been in the same church as you, etc. But may not have flown with you. However, the sponsor could ALSO be a recommendation IF they have ALSO flown with you.

Whereas the recommendations had to come from pilots that had flown with you. Either shared a cockpit, or flown with you operationally in the single/2 seat tactical environment.

Thanks for the info Walrus and dojet. I've flown with several RESERVISTS in my squadron who are FEDEX pilots, and am fortunate enough that I can call them 'Friends' as well. Time to start making some phone calls!!! I'll let them figure out the letter of rec vs who would be the best option to sponsor me when FEDEX puts out some guidance. I think the most important thing at this point is to have everything ready to go for when that app window does open. A crystal ball would be nice at this point!!!

Hmmm...you sure about that? ;)

See ya in 2 weeks for the Mando.

That's just what I thought I remember it being. Don't take it to the bank.

Oops....What I meant to say is I'm fortunate enough to call "SOME" of them friends :D

Dang....did I misplace some of Z's drill chits again...I hate it when that happens ;)

[QUOTE=Shaggy1970;881368]You seem to be on in the know, can you tell me what to put for the hiring

PM sent

It has been kind of quiet here. Has there been any more internal discussions with regard to hiring and class dates?

I was also curious about the 'B' plan. I know it is 7% of your annual salary. How is it disbursed at retirement? Is it like a 401K?

Thanks

7% of your monthly pensionable income is deposited into the "Pilots Money Purchase Pension Plan", there are some accumulative IRS limits that can be hit by some pilots with our other plans (415C I think is the IRS rule).

The plan is a defined contribution like a 401K, however it acts more like a defined benefit plan as to when you can take disbursements. No loans etc., but the money is 100% yours and can be invested exactly in the same manner as our 401K plan money.

"If your plan is a defined benefit plan or a money purchase plan, it will set a normal retirement age, which is generally the time at which you will be eligible to begin receiving your vested accrued benefit. These types of plans may permit earlier payments, however, either by providing for early retirement benefits for which the plan may set additional eligibility requirements, or by permitting benefits to be paid when you terminate employment, suffer a disability, or die.

I am in training for the first time in years....So I asked around about hiring.

Rumor alert:

Some combination of 30 professional and Corp pilot to start in the first 3 months of 2011. Then hiring close to 200. Not sure if it was 200 total or 200 on top of the other 30...

So all in all looks good for next year....

Hope it helps. And if someone could verify this with crew bus driver control...that would be nice....

Hey Cheese, you finally upgrading to Capt? Welcome back to the bottom of the pile. Hopefully retirements will start in earnest and we can finally start moving up the pile again. That would be nice! Enjoy training:)