Albief15

Gunter,

I understand how some might feel "pressure" since the calls going out often say something like "...we are hiring for the FDAs. Are you interested? If not we can call you later..."

Call me a goofball if you'd like, but I think the company can hire guys any way they want with regards to the FDA. What I have seen with Emerald Coast is that while the "typical" candidate we have hired may not be chomping at the bit to go (the 30s-40s, family at home, fresh out of the military/regionals), there is a large number of guys who WANT to go and want to go NOW. Some are single, or recently divorced, and some home-school, and some are recently retired military. I don't think its going to be all that difficult to find some quality folks who want to join Fedex who are not only willing but would enjoy the FDAs.

For those willing to "help the team" by accepting the overseas domiciles, they get a little seniority boost that they will keep the next 10-20 years.

I left the Air Force at the 14 year point for a host of reasons, but one reason was I didn't want to do an unaccompanied remote without my family. If I was trying to get hired at FedEx in 2011, and Amy called and said "would you consider Cologne or Hong Kong?", I would have gladly accepted the invitation. My spiel to the family would have been "this is better than a remote would have been, and after 2 years we can probably do whatever we want..." I see plenty of guys in the same boat. I also have had quite a few guys and gals say "...uh...thanks....we'll wait". That means there are poolies waiting on classes, and others who expect (and hope) to get the interview call later down the road. I can completely understand the pragmatic guy who takes the bird in hand, however, but don't fault either decision.

Point to remember is that its relatively easy to say "nah...skip it...ain't gonna do it..." when you pass up an upgrade or move to an FDA and are ALREADY ON THE PROPERTY. From the outside--just getting on here is such an improvement in security and potential that a little discomfort for a couple years is a small investment in a great future. I don't think anyone going is "forced". They may not have had the same options we did a few years back (ANC MD-11 or 727 FE MEM), but (EUR 757/FO, HKG A300/FO) is still better than (8 more months as an RJ Captain/3 more years in the military/unemployment). I think sometimes we all get a bit jaded as to just how good things are here once you nestle in a bit.

Last point...seen some sniping about extending probation period until 12 months after training. Maybe its just the hard-ass Eagle IP traits that develop after a while in that community, but don't we WANT to make it easier to eliminate anyone who is going to either be a PITA to work with or might be likely to be causal in another mishap? I think everyone here knows at least one person they probably wish had had a tougher probation. I didn't find that first year to be any big deal, and I think anyone who even remotely tries to do their job is going to do just fine.

And of course...I may be wrong....

Kolohe

Dadof6: “I don't propose adding schedulers; I propose taking the schedulers out of the approval process.”

Precisely. Real-time trip trading IT solutions have existed since the 90’s (if not earlier) and the fact that FDX corporate has not been pushed to implement this process is a poor reflection on the silent majority of our complacent pilot group and a failure by the self-satisfied FDX MEC. Are we the only major entity without this fundamental capability? Pathetic.

golfandfly

Gunter,

While many of us didn't have a problem improving the FDAs, we thought we could get a few things added for us. Sorry, but the safety programs shouldn't be considered a negotiating prize. If the company didn't see a real need to do something to reduce our poor safety record, they wouldn't have "given" it to us. This was coming regardless. It was just as much of a win to the company as to us. Thank J.P. in safety for tirelessly working on this program for all of us.

I thought we could have fixed a few nuisance items like real time trip trading and possibly accepted fares. Trip trading is an easy, very cheap fix. The accepted fare fix would be a little more costly, but in the scheme of things, not a huge price tag. Instead, we took peanuts.

As for new hires going to FDAs, are they going to be incredibly enriched by our new contract? It is an improvement, but as you can see, it still isn't a good deal. If it was, new hires wouldn't be going there. You pat yourself on the back for the huge 3% raise, but what happens next? The Flight/Duty time regulations have slipped until 1 Nov. Big surprise? Is it possible to see it get extended again? Will the company be able to talk in March if it isn't resolved, or do we have to wait until another external event is solved to negotiate? Presidential elections? New corporate tax laws?

I think we sold out for next to nothing. At this point, I think we should take the next 3% since we already gave up any negotiating capital we had for a cost of living raise....

HDawg

"However, since this concept fails to get any traction from the union/NC..."


From negotiating update 11-4..."Among the subjects discussed were: “Real Time” trip trading, Section 24 issues, Accepted Fares and California State Disability Insurance as it relates to the LAX domicile.".

Dadof6

Yep--saw those. Sound very nice. Timing is everything. Too bad we don't have anything left to "negotiate" with now!

Mookie

We just got real time trading at Alaska last month. It's a huge improvement. At least the denial is instantaneous...

Mookie

DLax85

Albie, as always --- great post!

...but with your logic above why don't we extend probation to 18 months...or 24 months??

That will really, really force those PITAs to reveal themselves!!

...and exactly what did we get for that "give back"???

That's really the complaint many guys have --- we were told, hey we don't have time to open up all the sections and fix little things here and there....but somehow this was fixed for the company.

Many think installing real time trip trading shouldn't be "any big deal" since so many other airlines have it....and the system is already (supposedly) automated.

Perhaps we could have at least agreed to trade those little things that are supposedly insignificant.

Gunter

OTP, aka PMU, will go away with real time trip trading. Not as simple as just turning it on. Must be negotiated.

golfandfly

It doesn't go away. You will still get 125% for anything you pick up. You just have to see it first. The only difference is that a trip doesn't sit in open time for hours now.

pinseeker

Doesn't OTP stand for open time priority? If the priority is gone, then doesn't it just become open time with a pay bump? Right now my A/C has plenty of OT, but what happens if it gets back to only 1 or 2 trips, do you really want to feel like your only choice is to take the crappy sub trip or hope your the first to see that 1 trip in OT? Just a thought.