Current Delta Pay Rates vs. Fedex
 

Just talked to my buddy at Delta. Their 777 Capt rates are going to $270.25 01Jan15. That's without 10% profit sharing up to 2.5bil and 20% over (which it looks like they will make this year). It also looks like they'll be getting 3% right away if they get a new contract (but that's not for sure).

So whatever FedEx offers it's still way behind the Delta plus a nickel ;) Oh wait we'll have KCM so I'm sure it's worth it.

To be fair, what percent of Delta pilots are 747 and 777 Captains at the max rate vice FedEx Wide Body Captains over 15? You know, that apples to apples argument?

Cargo is also exempted from part 117 rest rules. We should get more pay than the pax airlines just for that alone. Take that to the negotiating table.

To be fair, you fly a wide body you get wide body pay. What if all we only had wide bodies? Some on lesser pay?

FedEx had the opportunity to separate out the 777 pay. They chose to go with one widebody rate! So, why do you bring fairness into the argument?

Because flying a wide body is harder? That's maybe the one thing we got right from the beginning at UPS: the single pay scale.

FedEx should fix their "B" scale. 757 pilots at FedEx make $30-40K less than 757 pilots at UPS flying the same routes.

:confused: Harder?
That was never the justification for a/c based pay scales. The concept began as pay based on productivity. You move more pax or freight per flight, you make more.
There certainly are some good aspect of a single rate. Pay based on productivity was around long, long before UPS started flying aircraft - so it's not like the concept just appeared because someone decided big planes are hard to fly. :rolleyes:

"FedEx should fix their B scale."

So UPS is the only major carrier with common seat pay rates and FDX should change? Thanks for the advice.

Actually this statement can not be made with out further evidence. Guarantees may be correct but in practice we hide 10% of our hours and split them up amongst the senior guys and the wolfpack. It would be like me saying UPS has a B scale because our senior WB international round the world flyers make 20% more than yours. I like the single pay rate I wish we would've had one when I was junior. I like the two pay rates now that I am senior enough to hold a WB at relatively good seniority. In a couple of years I will wish we had Deltas 87 different pay rates that reward productivity.

As I said before I am pretty sure our guys cost the company the same per pilot as your guys, any evidence to the contrary would be appreciated.

I don't work for either place but I have to ask: don't you guys still have an A-plan?

I have no problem with the two pay rates at Fedex --- it allows some to make a choice between QOL and pay

However, we never should have agreed (...nor continue to accept) paying the 757 at 727/737 pay rates

That was a concession in the 2006 contract, which can be rectified

When introduced to their fleets, the vast majority of carriers paid (pay) their 757 pilots at a rate above their basic 737/727 narrow body pay rates

I seem to recall that the 757 Narrow-body pay concession was in exchange for DW & BC's really big A380 pay.

It somehow seems appropriate that the A380 order was canceled and the Union leadership that negotiated the deal (for themselves) never saw that pay rate. But ... it looks really good in our CBA!


:eek:

Actually narrow body rates were based on the DC8-73 with a MTOW of 355,000 lbs. ALPA pay rates historically have been bases on weight and speed, day/night. When Federal Express bought Flying Tigers in 1989 Federal Express had two pay rates DC10 and B727. Tigers had three rates B747, DC8, and B727. There was no way Purple pilots would be flying lower paid aircraft. The rates were changed to wide body and narrow body. In those days both the DC8 and B727 were classified narrow body, just like the B757 is today.

I doubt one pay rate would ever be accepted by ALPA National.

Yup - 757 paid as a 727 is a joke.

Maybe we could finally put that -380 pay rate to use with a pay graph. Plot -380 pay/MTOGW and 777 pay/MTOGW and draw a line. Trend the line back to 757 MTOGW. I get about $242/hour(based on our current contract). Not quite to UPS rates, but certainly better than what we conceded to in 2006.

Need to be very close to 300 an hour. My Minimum.

The only reason Fedex has a "B" scale (your words not mine) is that Fedex pilots failed to get a WB rate above UPS during the 2006 negotiations. As long as we had a higher WB rate than UPS, this "B" scale discussion did not exist.

I'm glad that Fedex and UPS contracts become amendable around the same time, I think it works to both our advantage. I hope both groups are able to exploit what ever advantage they can and also use the (soon to be) superior rates that all believe are soon to be at the legacy carriers.

We have a Health Insurance B scale too

What a shame we are not all in the same union. Birds of a feather and all that...

FDX Healthcare ... recent changes?
 

I've been waiting to start a FDX Health Insurance discussion ...

My wife and I have both had catastrophic medical illnesses covered by our FedEx Medical Benefits. I'm happy to report that we've been able to go to the best doctors and hospitals in the country for treatment, seemingly without anybody ever questioning our choices for medical care.

It was nice to open numerous hospital bills for more than $100,000 and know that I would only be responsible for our contractual deductible and copays. I was glad to see that ALPA negotiated a new lifetime cap of $2,000,000/person. I was mildly concerned that should we have future medical problems, that the old limit could become a problem for us.

I have justified the seeming lack of supervision of our really good benefits as "maybe" FedEx is self insured, maybe Anthem just administers the program and really doesn't care about controlling costs?

Something changed in the past 6 months ... a year ago I fell and injured my shoulder (broke my scapula). After a few weeks of Physical Therapy, I received a letter from Anthem saying that they understand that my shoulder hurts but that I have full range of motion now so further Physical Therapy is no longer medically necessary? (That's not what my doctor and MRI say!). My wife received a letter from Anthem this week questioning her need for a pain medication that her doctor recently prescribed?

Interestingly ... there was a CBS 60 Minutes special 2 weeks ago documenting Anthem's blanket denial policies! They interviewed a contract medical consultant (it seems many of Anthem's doctors are consultants and never actually see your medical record, Anthem just signs their names to the denial letters!*?) whose name was signed to denials in their segment.

So ... it seems that something has changed. I'm not sure if Anthem's corporate policies are making their way into our benefits or if Anthem is getting pressure from FedEx to CUT COSTS?

Are other folks experiencing the same issues?

http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-new...ease135-14.cfm




:confused:

I beleive you are correct. Fedex self insures but anthem administers. I guess my question is have they denied any coverage or just suggested you dont need it?

No issues here. I just had surgery 8 weeks ago, I picked the doctor and hospital, no questions asked. Total cost was over $45K - $50 out of pocket plus copays for 2 prescriptions.

My only gripe is having to complete a form each year asking if I have any other insurance.

In my experience, they have always taken a dim view with respect to physical therapy.

5 wks, 2-3x/wk after my shoulder surgery 18 months ago, no issues.

Yeah, but you're special. :p

Mmmm similiar issues over our side of the pond.

We also have received a similar PT ruling, denying all claims after the first 20 for the calendar year based on "lack of medical necessity" because no further range of motion improvement is evident. However, like you, the PT scrip is written for pain relief to allow normal activity. If you read Anthem's policy on PT, it is divided into two sections depending on whether the PT is "rehabilitative" or "habilitative". Pain relief to allow normal daily activities (IADLs) is addressed under the latter and is clearly covered. However, Anthem apparently routinely cites only the rehabilitative criteria. Our appeal package is in the works.

Separately, we also had a snafu this year with their annual "Do you have other insurance?" drill. In the past, we filled out the form and got it back under their deadline, and all was well. This year (2014) they simply started denying claims and THEN sent us the annual form! I read them the riot act over the phone and they promptly reprocessed and approved the 6 claims they had summarily denied, but not before our reputation with our doctors were sullied.

Yes. Someone is clearly trying to cull some low hanging fruit. They just denied a medication my wife has been taking (successfully) for 6 + years. They cut the dose in half. Compared to some other medications she takes, it isn't that expensive, but there must have been some metric they found that said they could get away with cutting the dose. Which means I pick up the cost. They state that the "plan" will only cover a certain dose - what "you and your doctor" decide "is up to you" (i.e., you F-ing pay, not us).

I've been through this several times with them. Scum.