Concur sir. I'm all over it. But I'm one of your "angry 20," in very good company, I might add. And I humbly think there are just a couple more than 20 of us, creating that pesky "unity problem" you mentioned. But I wasn't one of the sitting union leaders bidding the 777 without a pay rate, was I? Or one of the 68% who approved that atrocious FDA LOA v1.0?

I am voting NO because this TA greatly benefits one side (wanna guess which one?) at the expense of the other. I just don't see much here besides the FDA improvements and a token 3%--no wonder it happened so quickly. Maybe we were looking for an agreement for agreement's sake? The safety programs are welcome, but should have been unilaterally incorporated into the company's FOM long ago, not the pilot's CBA.

When we green light CGN and MD-11 HKG, the pilot side has zero--ZERO--bullets left in the negotiating revolver. We won't get the time of day at any of these upcoming "scheduled regular meetings". And then the real crunch time starts. There were a lot of other desired "fixes" to the CBA that this pilot group expressed its desire for. So does the NC truly speak for me if it doesn't address many of those fixes that have absolutely nothing to do with the NPRM or FAA flight time rules? At the same time, the NC pursues/agrees to FDA improvements that will lock in the FDA efficiencies for the company and will benefit a small minority of the pilot force (those that bid it under LOA v1.0 and future FDA bidders) and adversely affect the majority (with reduced bidpack trips, overseas DH lines, and loss of SIBA).

N.B. I am glad that this TA finally establishes what 32% of us wanted in the original FDA LOA. And I actually do appreciate the "big boy approach" by the MEC and NC of "read it, research it, and vote your conscience" as opposed to the "this is the best we can get" and "if you don't approve it, someone else will do our overseas flying" strong-arm tactics last go-around. So at least we got that going for us, which is nice. Gunga galunga.

............

Correct me if I'm wrong. I just watched SS's last video. Did he encourage us to vote No on the TA? I guess I was a little confused by it.
Any experts on body language like to chime in here?

Chuck says no.

This document might be touted as a T/A, but it's really no more than a re-write of a poor FDA LOA. What each of us has to ask ourselves is, does this T/A and FDA LOA meet our needs. Either way - yes or no - the answer is easy.

This T/A doesn't meet my needs for a number of reasons - and the FDA LOA is just an example of why it doesn't. In the HKG FDA LOA, we negotiated so poorly we gave up our IRS overseas tax exclusion ($91,500). We’re forced to allow the Company’s CPA to do our taxes, which OBTW, has allegiance to FDX Corp., not the crew member! We compared schooling children in a HKG Chinese/Mandarin speaking public school to a public school in Memphis. We settled for a ridiculously low housing allowance, and it was sold on the premise that we didn’t want to make our foreign pilots RICH. In section ‘N’ of the HKG FDA LOA, we provided the authority for our MEC Chairman and a Company representative to singly make changes that THEY deemed would enhance the operation of the FDA. Finally, this LOA only affects a small portion of the crew force, but the example is HUGE.

What you should see here is – ANYTHING we allow to be negotiated away is likely gone forever. This T/A perpetuates the absurdity of the HKG FDA LOA, and if there was any likelihood that it would be improved financially for our crewmembers before, it’s certainly lost. Also considering that FedEx Express growth is international, and these foreign domiciles are going to last through the tenure of this CBA, why aren’t the terms written into the CBA? A Letter of Agreement should be used for an emergent problem, short-term in nature, that both sides need some immediate resolve. If Chapter 6 in the CBA isn’t working – FIX IT.

This T/A is half baked and half negotiated. There’s really no money in it, there’s no quality of life improvements, nothing in scheduling. When a former management pilot asks what the Company will think about the membership turning down a T/A our trusted negotiators sent to us for approval – all I can say is – we’re not happy with the deal.

Nakazawa

Chuck,

I guess you are in favor of the TA. Your latest responses seem as if your grandkids got use of your computer.

I guess I am an "angry 20". I do think I've been bent over by the company in a few instances lately (4.A.2.b., 777 rates,etc), but honestly, I'm not angry. Again, it's just business. I don't begrudge them for sticking it to me, it's really their job to keep expenses down. We are just an expense. However, the company has lost my goodwill.

I see the FDAs as a big give back for ME. I would rather do that intra Europe and intra Asia flying from my MEM domicile. I enjoy the occasional DDh trips to fill in for someone that went sick in the field. I realize it costs this very profitable company some money. Luckily they haven't figured a way to circumvent our contract entirely.

I'm no union activist or company lackey. I just don't see the value in this TA. I'm getting cost of living increases and losing a big part of my bidpack. I'd rather wait for until we sign a real contract and keep my bidpack. I feel confident I'll get my 3% anyway.

Assuming that we are not planning on bidding an FDA, what are we really getting? A cup of starbucks today?

Some guy,

Contrary to what the union told us last time, neither FDA LOA specifically addressed scope. Can we lose the intra European flying? I'd say it's remotely possible.

I don't think it will happen. Why? We are in contract negotiations. We are undermanned and will probably always will be at Fedex. At a previous airline, we used something called a monthly cap. Just in case you aren't aware of how a cap works, you can bid a month up to a monthly maximum. Carryover counts to this maximum. So in short, you could fly up to this cap, usually around 75 hours/month. Let's say Fedex used a cap of 75 hours. How many pilots do you think we would need to hire? We wouldn't have near the bodies to fly the lines, much less any extra flying that comes up (changes, charters, etc). Fedex counts on their pilots flying much higher than our normal guarantee to fill their requirements.

So, with that in mind. Do you really want to **** us off the pilot group by outsourcing our work? Even after 4.A.2.b. 777 rates, etc, they still require on our goodwill (and greed) to fly the freight. I don't think we need to be released to self help to impact service failures. Just not doing anything extra would be enough.

Will they outsource? What happens if?? And if??? I don't know what will happen in the future, but I do know this LOA is not good for me.

I say since we are dreaming lets get a real bar with strippers instead of a gay cappachino bar in the AOC. But what else can you expect from someone that bid the 777 without a pay rate. Wants to sit around in the AOC with his 777 lanyard and sip his cappachino with his pinky in the air with DW and the rest of the 777 light in their loafers crowd.

My thoughts....

We have a contract that ran its course a few months back, so we now have a TA.

In a TA, all things should be negotiated that the pilots find important. Even though Sect25 is on hold due to the FAA changes that are coming, EVERYTHING ELSE should be negotiated in this TA.

-3% is chump change. Actually, I could care less about a raise. There are more important issues.

-ASAP and FOQA should not be something that needs to be negotiated to where we might be gettings scraps from the Company. Safety is the whole point. Our record shows that we need some kind of change. It should benefit all. Global War on Error, while a good program, is to me a smoke screen by the Company. If they really cared they would have done FOQA and ASAP long ago. And, what the heck was in that Enders report?

-Accepted fares, better 4a2b, 60 day deviation banks should be finalized now, day night day swaps, real time trip trading, along with the other items some have mentioned.

-The FDA stuff is much better. But, that is where I think we have negotiating leverage if we vote the TA down. For those of you that disagree....everyone has their opinion. They lowballed us last time and it cost us all displacement bids and 4a2b. For those that thought the last FDA LOA wouldnt affect you; well I hope you have seen the light. Being the selfish schmuck I am not, I want to bid HKG, and the offer is good, but the rest of the package is not so.

-As far as age 60 retirement and our retirement package, lets do it now. And if done later, and others worry about that, it cant be changed unless WE change it contractually. Those that assume that we will get the short end of the stick on these items will only get the short end if they allow it.

So, if this is a short term TA due to the FAA changes that are coming, so be it. But lets negotiate everything else now, not later. I dont trust the Company because they are out to better their business....understood. I just see a very myopic strategy by our leaders......-2.

In my dreams I see the whole pilot group not doing anything extra above their schedule, vacation buy back, etc., add nauseum. Then I wake up and the unfortunate reality is back. Aside from the things I stated above, we hold the final key....or so I believe. I would suggest to get debt free and save up your $$ just in case.

I am one of the "Angry 20". I know that if the other 4519 of us did their due diligence, we'd have an "Angry 4539"! Wake up!

No, I do not expect everyone to fall in line with my thinking but the consequences of agreeing to this TA WILL harm us all in the long run. I do not see how, if you learn the facts and spend some time thinking about the unintended consequences, one could come to any other conclusion.