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Worst Cargo Airlines to fly for (Pay,QOL,ETC)

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Worst Cargo Airlines to fly for (Pay,QOL,ETC)

Old 05-06-2013, 07:33 PM
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Default Worst Cargo Airlines to fly for (Pay,QOL,ETC)

Anyone have a list of places to avoid ??
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Old 05-06-2013, 07:57 PM
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I'm assuming that you are speaking of 121 Cargo since this is that forum. Unfortunately, there are very few cargo carriers left, compared to 10 years ago and much like our nation, the "middle class" of cargo is decimated and the disparity keeps growing. Back in the day, there were many middle of the road carriers that you would never confuse your paycheck with that of a UPS or Fedex pilot, but otherwise life was pretty good with every weekend and holiday off. Emery, DHL, Kitty Hawk, and Gemini fit into this category.

Surviving at the top, you obviously have UPS and Fedex which are great places to work. Close behind them, you have the Atlas. Then come the middle class of ATI/Cappy, the remnants of ABEX, Southern Air, Kalitta, etc. Scheduled 121 usually has much better QOL than Supplemental 121, and certainly better than to on demand types.

Some other cargo companies are National, USA Jet, etc, but I don't know much about them.

The only carrier that unfortunately keep representing the bottom of pay, QOL, and working conditions is Amerijet. I'm sure that there are others that I would avoid, mostly in MIA and SJU, but maybe some others can chime in.

Good luck
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Old 05-06-2013, 08:21 PM
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Originally Posted by B727DRVR View Post
you obviously have UPS and Fedex which are great places to work.
Good luck
You obviously don't work for UPS. The ONLY great thing about UPS is the paycheck (for now, we will see how long that lasts). Everything else completely sucks for anyone in the bottom 300 and anyone to be hired (if they ever hire again, still have 48 guys furloughed). QOL is by far the worse I've ever had. UPS=Misery if you are junior. Study the demographics of the group very carefully. You will be junior your entire career if we ever hire again. I'm sure some senior guy will chime in and say what a great place UPS is but be warned their experience will not be your experience. Again, paycheck - great for now. Everything else, not so much. And after a while the money isn't worth it either. Do yourself a favor and go fly for a real airline.
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Old 05-07-2013, 03:08 AM
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Originally Posted by freightretriever View Post
You obviously don't work for UPS. The ONLY great thing about UPS is the paycheck (for now, we will see how long that lasts). Everything else completely sucks for anyone in the bottom 300 and anyone to be hired (if they ever hire again, still have 48 guys furloughed). QOL is by far the worse I've ever had. UPS=Misery if you are junior. Study the demographics of the group very carefully. You will be junior your entire career if we ever hire again. I'm sure some senior guy will chime in and say what a great place UPS is but be warned their experience will not be your experience. Again, paycheck - great for now. Everything else, not so much. And after a while the money isn't worth it either. Do yourself a favor and go fly for a real airline.

How True ... Additional commutes, no conflicts, training and vacation on days off, and senior guys bidding at the last minute ! ...

There has to be something wrong when the most senior guy is ready to throw out the Scheduling section ... or ... the senior guys are busy "line improving" their 1st choice as soon as that bidding window opens.

It is a good job every other Monday when the check deposits.

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Old 05-07-2013, 05:22 AM
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Originally Posted by freightretriever View Post
You obviously don't work for UPS. The ONLY great thing about UPS is the paycheck (for now, we will see how long that lasts). Everything else completely sucks for anyone in the bottom 300 and anyone to be hired (if they ever hire again, still have 48 guys furloughed). QOL is by far the worse I've ever had. UPS=Misery if you are junior. Study the demographics of the group very carefully. You will be junior your entire career if we ever hire again. I'm sure some senior guy will chime in and say what a great place UPS is but be warned their experience will not be your experience. Again, paycheck - great for now. Everything else, not so much. And after a while the money isn't worth it either. Do yourself a favor and go fly for a real airline.
Just curious. Assuming you are furloughed, if and when you ever get recalled will you return or go somewhere else? If you are not furloughed are you planning on staying or are you actively looking for other employment? Not a jab, just a sincere question.
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Old 05-07-2013, 07:22 AM
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Originally Posted by Lab Rat View Post
Just curious. Assuming you are furloughed, if and when you ever get recalled will you return or go somewhere else? If you are not furloughed are you planning on staying or are you actively looking for other employment? Not a jab, just a sincere question.
I typed an entire response and lost it cause $%#$% apc timed out. Take two. I was furloughed but came back. I came back for one reason – the money. For now UPS is still one of the best paying aviation jobs. I do think that will change. After being furloughed I needed to recoup as much as I could and UPS so far is allowing me to do that. To be fair UPS does also have excellent health insurance (between contract negotiations and Obama care I think that will change for the worse as well). Retirement – we do still have both an A and B plan. I think the A plan will cease to exist prior to my retirement if UPS airlines is even still in existence at that point. UPS will no doubt still be here but I don’t think they will be running an airline 25 years from now. If the airline is still around the B plan it is pretty standard and actually inferior to several of the legacy carriers left standing. The guys hired in the early days of the airline fought hard and built a great paying career for themselves. I don’t think their experience will be the experience of anyone hired in the past 15 years. With all that said, now that I have been given the chance to recover a bit from the furlough I am actively looking for something else that makes sense. First – as a junior UPS pilot we are 90 days notice from being furloughed again which I think is a real possibility. Second – I’d rather make a bit less money and have a better QOL. I got into cargo for “stability” which has proven to be a flawed theory. The only think stable in aviation is instability. Again, just my thoughts and opinions. You will know how well you did when you set the parking brake for the last time. Or, as someone put it on our internal UPS boards (for us junior guys at UPS) when the captain I’m flying with on my last leg sets the parking brake.
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Old 05-07-2013, 08:00 AM
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Southern. I'd avoid it. Currently furloughed and not planning on taking a call back IF it's ever offered, which I doubt it will be considering we only have two year recall rights in our outstanding contract.
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Old 05-07-2013, 08:57 AM
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Evergreen. Poor qol and their pay scale is shockingly poor.
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Old 05-07-2013, 09:19 AM
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Evergreen ! They have a great water park!
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Old 05-07-2013, 11:22 AM
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Originally Posted by Lab Rat View Post
Just curious. Assuming you are furloughed, if and when you ever get recalled will you return or go somewhere else? If you are not furloughed are you planning on staying or are you actively looking for other employment? Not a jab, just a sincere question.
Speaking of furloughs, I've talked to several ex-AA/TWA people at UPS that say they will take a serious look at going back just before the 3 year clock runs out.
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