I was talking to a friend who is an MD-11 Captain at FedEx and goes to my church.

He mentioned that they're madly in love with the 777, obviously since they're ordering 60. It is allowing them... please take this as second hand info nothing more... but it is allowing them to leave Asia 2 or 3 hours later than UPS because it can fly nonstop back to MEM while other cargo aircraft will make the stop in ANC.

In a business day the 2 or 3 hours later is tremendously popular.

But 60 777s. We got combined 34 or 33 super premium widebodies in our 777 and 744 fleet. They're double that. And if you throw in the 64 MD11s they're 4X larger. There is absolutely no money in freight.

 

So if a trucker in ATL was inspired by our musings here about ND and decided to buy a 1 way ticket to Fargo. It's $550 for a 1 stop on Delta.

Not bad. Funny though that it's $550 for a 1 stop on UsAir, American, United and CAL.

There is no pricing power with the internet.

 

Sorry, I forgot about this post!

I'll spare you a long story, but up until about 5-6 years ago most south guys depended religiously on FDS (Flightline Data Services) for access to DBMS an most importantly for pre-PBS days, EasyBid. To spare you an even longer story, FDS was bought out by Sabre Solutions (not sure just what they do) and business is better elsewhere. That said, they still support Delta pilots and offer different plans. You need to download the Widget Works software.

FDS still has access to DBMS that most others don't. The interface is--no kidding--1960s technology that they have shown zero interest in updating. Still, for quick access to open time (but not the swapboard) it is actually quicker than logging on via iCrew.

So download the WidgetWorks software, mess around a bit with the interfaces. EasyBid and EasySwap are both free, I believe. They have adapted EasyBid for working with NavTech's PBS, but the two aren't officially connected at all. Some pilots still use EasyBid but most don't.

The "Alert Manager" is what you might want to check into. Again, it requires a $5/month plan I believe. You will be amused by how primitive the interfaces are with this software, but I still find it useful.

 

Brain fart....When do we have to bid for 2012-2013 vacation?

 

I think the first round closes around 1/8/12. Please check icrew to be sure.

 

FTB,
Your bud is giving you the straight skinny....my #1 just flew nonstop from HKG to MEM in under 14 hours.....easily made the nighttime sort, which means all the HKG RDS got delivered to any domestic city that morning. Huge competive advantage over a stop in ANC.....I think the purple boys will buy every 777 they can get their hands on......keeps my A plan alive....for now !
Regards,
BG

 

"The oil and gas rush has led to a jobs boom. North Dakota has the nation's lowest jobless rate, at 3.5%, and the state now has some 200 rigs pumping 440,000 barrels of oil a day, four times the amount in 2006. The state reports more than 16,000 current job openings, and places like Williston have become meccas for workers seeking jobs that often pay more than $100,000 a year. "

 

While I agree that there is money in freight, a valid comparison between Delta and FedEX/UPS consists of the fact that we move similar metal back and forth safely. Fed Ex and UPS make their money in overnight small packages, and have mostly the corner on that market--with the associated infrastructure--a huge infrastructure. While they are getting into the bulk freight business at an increasing rate, their bread and butter is essentially an overnight mail service. We can't do that without enormous capital outlay.

Now if we are talking dedicated freighters and belly freight, yeah, I'll buy that argument--although there are a lot of dedicated freight haulers out there.

 

Yeah, he told me to have a nice trip. Y Zass.

Carl

 

In my 747-200 days, we had both passenger versions and all cargo versions of the aircraft. We referred to the trips as either "cargo trips" or "cargo appreciation trips".

Carl