OKLATEX

Just some rough numbers for people wondering about bases here since it comes up from time to time.

Bases Ranked in Order of Size. (Rounded Numbers)

1. Memphis - 3,901 Pilots; 757, 767, 777, A300, MD-11
2. Anchorage - 220 Pilots; MD-11
3. Hong Kong - 170 Pilots; 767
4. Los Angeles - 130 Pilots; MD-11
5. Cologne - 100 Pilots; 757
6. Indianapolis- 80 Pilots; 767

FlyingAnvil

Appreciate the data.

Big Perm

Interesting numbers. Had no idea there were so few pilots at all the bases other than Memphis.

C130driver

And apparently many of them commuters! After driving through the city today I can see why..

Albief15

I scoffed Memphis hard for years, but my last training I stayed in a very nice Germantown area and rode my bike up and down the Wolf River and Shelby Farms trail systems. There are some nice areas and a lot of nice people there. No state income tax and some other advantages...

However, I commuted for 13 years and with just a tad of seniority that wasnt a bad life. There are also advantages to keeping work life and home life in separate orbits. My advice for new hires is dont do anything for a year, THEN make your call. You do not have to live in Memphis to make Fedex a great job.

kronan

But if you are an older newhire chasing $$,
living in Memphis is your best bet.

I'm quite confident that there are many FOs earning more than I do as a Capt...but it's not a Zero sum game for me

C130driver

Sounds like at least most of the international trips are very commutable? Do guys just ride the jump seat to domicile?

Adlerdriver

Actually that depends on what your definition of "commutable" is. Unlike an airline, we don't have frequent flights to the hubs throughout the day. Flights from out stations to MEM usually depart either very early in the morning (maybe 0500-0600L ish) or the normal 2000-2200L departures with the daily freight to begin that night's sort. The easiest, most stress free commute at Fedex is riding one of our jumpseats to MEM, arriving within a couple of hours of your show time and heading out on your trip after a nap or squadron reunion over a cup of coffee. That only works for domestic ops (or Mexico/Canada).

Unfortunately, Fedex management has an issue with guys doing that before an international trip. There have been pilots removed from trips that were flying MEM to Asia or Europe because they used the company jumpseat and got to domicile with less than a "legal" rest period before their trip. Never mind there is no FAR requirement to do that and commuting time doesn't count toward duty day. Never mind the pilot may have slept all day at home, got a 4-5 hour nap prior to their 0400 departure and will be in the bunk 45 minutes after takeoff for another 4 hours. Somehow the guy who lives in MEM and hangs with the family all day, mows his lawn or spends his last few hours on the "honey-do" list before going in to work is different. Even though he might actually lay down at the exact same time as the guy who commuted in and may not be any more or less rested - commuters aren't trusted to manage our own lives pre-trip. But... I digress. You can see the issue.

What would be an "easy commute" is not. You get up at the crack of dawn (i.e. 24 hours prior to when you're going to be raising the gear handle) to jumpseat on company metal, arriving in domicile 16-20 hours prior to departure. Or you jumpseat or buy a ticket on a normal airline to arrive in MEM at a more reasonable time the day prior to your trip. Either way, you waste most or all of your last day off getting to or actually in MEM in order to rest when management thinks it's best for you to do so. Show up for you trip as an RFO, with plenty of sleep already under your belt only to jump into the bunk and stare at the ceiling for the first 4 hours of the flight. But, hey, you showed up for the trip rested. Again, I digress.

Luckily, there are many international trips that start with a deadhead to another city. You cancel the ticket the company buys to that city from MEM (or whatever your domicile is) and buy a ticket from you home airport to that same destination. Then you don't worry about getting to MEM and the above mentioned issues plus you're on the clock getting paid for the commute.

Sorry - long answer to a seemingly simple question.

GoAroundFlaps

Hub turns occur either during the day sort or night sort. You would be inbound to the hub on a trip from xyz and will turn to a new paring new trip number etc on the outbound flight from the hub. Most trips that touch Memphis for MEM based pilots finish when they get to the hub and you then turn to a different paring. Its confusing at first because the Fedex Day is different.

we do have 1-2-3-4-5-15 day trips Those longer than 24 hours TAFB usually go through IND, AFW, OAK, LAX, EWR etc.

Huck

Actually he had spent the day flying with the reserves. And he was on probation. And was showing for a 15.2 hour MEM-DXB leg.

The other guy, the one not on probation, may have been sleeping all day, though.