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FedEx/UPS Family Quality of Life

Old 12-18-2006, 02:31 PM
  #11  
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Originally Posted by checknin View Post

Lag, this is extremely encouraging. How far a commute is your mid-sized southern city and is the double-deadhead in your "bag of tricks" as well?

Also, are the R-24 lines new with the new contract? If so, any predictions as to how those will play out among commuters?

Again, "Thanks" to all of you!

Shv is a little longer drive than BHM but can do in a pinch. Shv does not have a double DH but about 6 single DH lines. The advantage depends on the whims of the schedule. SHV has a day hub turn line BHM does not. If the day hubturn disappeared my time away from base (TAFB) would change drastically. BHM curently has 4 lines that alternate with Ottawa. I would expect within a year you could hold one of them. That would mean you would be gone 6-9 days a month,although the 727 back seat is rapidly becoming a home to the geezers.

R-24 is not new and can be a very good deal or a very bad deal, you will be used more than other reserves. Nice option if you are Junior, you will gain an extra day or three at home if you are a commuter. But you will be going to one of the "greats" or "grands" in the winter.

Lag

Last edited by FDXLAG; 12-18-2006 at 02:59 PM.
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Old 12-18-2006, 07:40 PM
  #12  
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B'ham's actually about a 3:15 drive from MEM right now. That's bound to get shorter when ongoing highway-connecting projects get finished. Sounds like a winner to stay put in the short term. Just need 3 CDs, some good Pinnacle connections , and a quick bike...oh, and a job, too.

As to the senior guys moving to the 72 panel, is it happening so rapidly that the bid situation is being turned on it's ear (i.e., old assumptions/solutions unworkable)?

Any UPS guys have any inputs on this thread?

Cheers
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Old 12-18-2006, 07:42 PM
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Sorry... disregard this deleted duplicate reply

Last edited by checknin; 12-18-2006 at 07:46 PM. Reason: delete duplicate reply
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Old 12-18-2006, 07:53 PM
  #14  
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Originally Posted by Albief15 View Post
BHM is what...4 hours away?

That to me means some gas money and 4 good CDs. Comparing a commute you can DRIVE to in a pinch and a guy who lives on the other side of the Rockies is night and day. You can make BHM work--easy.
Being a guy that lived on the other side of the Rockies for the past 7 yrs, it was tough. Mine, tougher than most. I had a 3-4 hr drive from NW CO to Denver (3 mountain passes across the Cont. Divide), though in the winter time there was jet service from the local airport for ski season to DEN, as well as DFW, MSP, ORD, ATL, EWR, SLT, IAH, CVG - however, I took most of the winter off to ski!

I would normally just drive to DEN and have more options getting home (sometimes making the obligatory Costco run - living at the end of the food chain is sometimes rough ). Also the AM FedEx flight arrives in DEN about 445a and the first jumpseat home from there was 730a to 9a (depending on the season).

My solution was to bid single departure lines and only have one commute each month or trips with DHs to minimize my days away from home. It worked great for me as a junior MD-11 FO, 90%, to fairly senior, 28%. My last 5 yrs as an FO I usually got my top 3 choices and only once worse than top 10. I normally averaged 10-12 days away from home on 4 wk months, all in a row.

I had no kids! Then 3 yrs ago my daughter came along and changed things, but my seniority made it easy to deal with. Then I upgraded to Capt and became a bottom feeder again and, so, we moved. Now I commute out of RDU. I live about a 1 hr drive from RDU for the 1 1/2 hr flight to MEM on FedEx. I also have GSO 1 1/2 hrs away (14 gates in '09?) and CLT 2 hrs away as back ups. My total commute time from home to MEM went from 9hrs to about 3 1/2 hrs. Also, NW seems to always have a seat avail as well - CASS has made commuting way easier since 9/11.

I've sat reserve the past 7 months and have often been able to sneak home during a block of R-days when I get in from a trip and they have nothing for me to out on, or assign me a trip far enough in advance with a DH on the front.

I also used to commute out of EWR for 4yrs (including a yr to ANC). Lots of seats to MEM, lots of layovers at home. And Joisey wasn't so bad once you got away from Sewerk.

Everyone is different and the lines we fly are so different. There is something for just about everyone!
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Old 12-18-2006, 07:55 PM
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Canyonman, How far a commute did you reject to remain in domicile? To your mind, is there a commuting scenario that would have been worth the move (i.e., How close would your town of choice need to be?)




I was commuting from San Diego for a short time. The plan was to live in the pacific northwest. The distance was not a factor. I feel you can make any commute work. ( eg.. We have pilots that live in South America that commute to Europe.) Don' get to wrapped up in trips that work your city. That can change for the good or bad as stated by FDXLAG. The bottom line for me still is QOL with the family and living in domicile makes it happen. I can see you have received a lot of great advice and hopefully more will contribute. I'm sure you have some AF buds at fdx/ups? What are they saying?

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Old 12-18-2006, 08:15 PM
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I'm sure you have some AF buds at fdx/ups? What are they saying?
I know a couple fairly senior pilots at each company, but the guys I see most often are pretty fresh (2 just out of probation at UPS and 2 fresh from training at FedEx). You can bet I'll be printing this thread and having a sit-down or two (or six) really soon.
Thx
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Old 12-18-2006, 08:20 PM
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I know someone from Pinnacle who commutes from Socal to MEM, they HATE it because often times they lose on some of the precious regional off time but it's definitely doable. How junior are ANC and Subic? If you're looking at ANC you might as well try Subic right?
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Old 03-31-2012, 08:55 AM
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Bringing back an old thread...

I've seen a lot of talk about how commuter friendly FedEx is, but never heard anything about using the FedEx feeders. Can a FedEx pilot jumpseat on an ATR-42/72?
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Old 03-31-2012, 09:49 AM
  #19  
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Originally Posted by NWflyer View Post
Bringing back an old thread...

I've seen a lot of talk about how commuter friendly FedEx is, but never heard anything about using the FedEx feeders. Can a FedEx pilot jumpseat on an ATR-42/72?
Yes, just not on a single engine feeder. You can also "jumpseat" on the CTVs (tractor trailors).
fbh
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Old 03-31-2012, 11:55 AM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by frozenboxhauler View Post
Yes, just not on a single engine feeder. You can also "jumpseat" on the CTVs (tractor trailors).
fbh
Did the CTV thing a couple of times. The drivers seemed very happy to have someone to chat with!
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