Leave UAL for FDX?
04-23-2017, 09:59 AM
#31
Line Holder
Joined APC: Nov 2012
Position: 767 R
Posts: 28
Former SWA guy here...I don't miss the pax or FAs. Very quiet at purple. Depending on the city you live of course....comutting is a breeze when you can reserve the jumpseat 3 weeks out. I love getting to my commuting hub and not looking over my shoulder wondering how many guys are competing for a jumpsuit.
04-23-2017, 10:02 AM
#32
trip trading freak
Joined APC: Oct 2010
Position: MD-11
Posts: 673
Originally Posted by cgflier
If one of your decision points is the defined benefit plan at FX do a little research. Our plan hasn't changed I think since 1993; meaning, a captain retiring today with max pay at 25 years gets the same retirement pay as a captain did the day he was hired. No COLA no increase. I personally like our plan, I would just like them to give us a COLA or increase the max multiple.
Most of the young FO's I fly with want to ditch that plan and just get a bigger 401k or B fund.
My thought is the company/union will freeze the DB plan before anyone hired recently get anything of value out of it. The company is not going to give us any retirement improvement that does not also benefit them in some way. Any improvement will cost us elsewhere.
Most of the young FO's I fly with want to ditch that plan and just get a bigger 401k or B fund.
My thought is the company/union will freeze the DB plan before anyone hired recently get anything of value out of it. The company is not going to give us any retirement improvement that does not also benefit them in some way. Any improvement will cost us elsewhere.
While having a big B fund to replace everything in theory would be nice but right now, our government is looking at taxiing your 401k contributions and they have tried in the past and will try again to cap the yearly overall contribution amount(the last time the cap they wanted was 25k). So you can have a 50% B fund and still only get 25k a year total for all contributions.
BTW, there are only 2 ways we can loose the A fund, the company claims hardship(tough to do right now since the have to prove the funding is there) or WE (the pilots) vote it away.
04-23-2017, 10:04 AM
#33
trip trading freak
Joined APC: Oct 2010
Position: MD-11
Posts: 673
Originally Posted by Gilligan13
Does the 777 at FedEx have 7 day trips or are they all 10+ days?
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04-23-2017, 11:56 AM
#34
Line Holder
Joined APC: Jul 2014
Posts: 85
Originally Posted by Pakagecheck
Food for thought. FedEx has some of the worst trips being flown. With that said, we have the best trips in the industry. But one man's trash is another man's treasure. I haven't flown pax but my buds at my guard unit do and the comparison to the types of flying is huge. We have a great deal of different types of flying. Our international trips do what the pax do but mainly we hit the road and stay out for a while hitting multiple destinations and just not over and backs. There are single departure lines where you commute to work once a month, but if you don't like being gone 10-14 days at a time you can do multiple smaller trips. Plenty of new hires are doing international every month. Domestic flights do a lot of what we call hub/spoke flying. IE, Denver-memphis-denver all week. Over half of our flying is during the day. The average for most people is less than 400 block hrs a year. That is not sitting any reserve, but a commuting line person. Depending on the jet one gets as a new hire, it might take a couple of years to get to your happy place, and it's a really good chance is will be on a wide body because over 80% of our crew force is there.
As far as commuting goes, I've been a commuter my entire time at purple. A lot of it is on the company's dime positioning me to start/end a trip. But when it's not, it is pretty painless unless you live in a city with a boatload of Fedex pilots and limited jumpseats. Many of our pilots bid the plane that services their city(can be a role of the dice since system form changes) and are hardly ever gone from home or have to commute without living in domicile.
I get people want to share their triumphs and typically don't like to share their decision mistakes with others but since the first of the year, I have flown with people that have left Southwest, Delta, and United, and they all share rather quickly that they flew somewhere previous and how happy they are to be at purple.
The guy that sponsored me at FedEx years ago told me, If you don't mind not walking through the terminal in your uniform, being on the other side of the field and if you want food with meals and a retirement, FedEx is the place to be.
As I type this, I'm currently on an over 60 hour layover, and every 3 hours and 45 mins getting another hour of flight pay to NOT operate the airplane. Don't get me wrong, I really like flying, but I like getting paid to not fly even more! And there are a bunch of long layovers in our system, 24/36/48/60/80/100 etc.
Go to the interview, hopefully have a great decision to make and keep asking questions to see what will be right for you.
Pakage
As far as commuting goes, I've been a commuter my entire time at purple. A lot of it is on the company's dime positioning me to start/end a trip. But when it's not, it is pretty painless unless you live in a city with a boatload of Fedex pilots and limited jumpseats. Many of our pilots bid the plane that services their city(can be a role of the dice since system form changes) and are hardly ever gone from home or have to commute without living in domicile.
I get people want to share their triumphs and typically don't like to share their decision mistakes with others but since the first of the year, I have flown with people that have left Southwest, Delta, and United, and they all share rather quickly that they flew somewhere previous and how happy they are to be at purple.
The guy that sponsored me at FedEx years ago told me, If you don't mind not walking through the terminal in your uniform, being on the other side of the field and if you want food with meals and a retirement, FedEx is the place to be.
As I type this, I'm currently on an over 60 hour layover, and every 3 hours and 45 mins getting another hour of flight pay to NOT operate the airplane. Don't get me wrong, I really like flying, but I like getting paid to not fly even more! And there are a bunch of long layovers in our system, 24/36/48/60/80/100 etc.
Go to the interview, hopefully have a great decision to make and keep asking questions to see what will be right for you.
Pakage
I've seen similar posts where purple guys say they typically fly around that 400 block hrs annually... so is most of the pilots time on the road being spent sitting in a hotel on some kind of an out-base reserve? If so that's perfect if you have a business that you can run via the internet!
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04-23-2017, 12:21 PM
#35
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2016
Posts: 936
Originally Posted by FLPS30GRDWN
I've seen similar posts where purple guys say they typically fly around that 400 block hrs annually... so is most of the pilots time on the road being spent sitting in a hotel on some kind of an out-base reserve? If so that's perfect if you have a business that you can run via the internet!
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Next month I have a couple of six day trips that go back and forth San Diego - Indy (4 operating legs) . The pay is 41 hours, the block is a little over 16 hours. Of course there are a couple of DHs to/from SAN that are paid but are not included in the block.
The flow of the trip is: DH-17LO-IND-26LO-SAN-13LO-IND-51LO-SAN-13LO-DH
Generally the layovers are your own, particularly domestically. Maybe twice in 16 years have I been called and asked if I can operate in 10 hours. Most senior guys do not answer the phone. But if they can reach you they can revise you.
Now this is a very senior trip, and they are pretty rare, but every bid pack has some.
Last edited by Fdxlag2; 04-23-2017 at 12:31 PM.
04-23-2017, 02:27 PM
#36
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2006
Position: 767 CA
Posts: 1,876
Originally Posted by FLPS30GRDWN
I've seen similar posts where purple guys say they typically fly around that 400 block hrs annually... so is most of the pilots time on the road being spent sitting in a hotel on some kind of an out-base reserve? If so that's perfect if you have a business that you can run via the internet!
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04-23-2017, 05:33 PM
#37
Line Holder
Joined APC: Aug 2008
Position: MD-11 CA
Posts: 65
[QUOTE=Flying J;2348688]Currently 8 months at UAL. Commuter. Late 20's, will retire top 20. Single, no kids. Just received and invite to interview with FDX. Live in mountain west.
You said it. Late 20's, single, no kids.
That will change. As a 20 year WB Capt at FedEx with 3 grown kids. I can tell you sooner or later your future wife or you will get tired of commuting. I can almost guarantee that if you are from the Mountain West you will never adapt nor enjoy living in Memphis. ANC, LAX could close anytime. Memphis never will.
United has many domicles you will be happy to live in.
The A-plan will be gone by the time you even think about retiring.
If my 28 year old had the choice I would tell them to stay at United.
You said it. Late 20's, single, no kids.
That will change. As a 20 year WB Capt at FedEx with 3 grown kids. I can tell you sooner or later your future wife or you will get tired of commuting. I can almost guarantee that if you are from the Mountain West you will never adapt nor enjoy living in Memphis. ANC, LAX could close anytime. Memphis never will.
United has many domicles you will be happy to live in.
The A-plan will be gone by the time you even think about retiring.
If my 28 year old had the choice I would tell them to stay at United.
04-24-2017, 07:02 AM
#39
trip trading freak
Joined APC: Oct 2010
Position: MD-11
Posts: 673
Originally Posted by FLPS30GRDWN
I've seen similar posts where purple guys say they typically fly around that 400 block hrs annually... so is most of the pilots time on the road being spent sitting in a hotel on some kind of an out-base reserve? If so that's perfect if you have a business that you can run via the internet!
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Been a commuter my entire career at FedEx and commuting doesn't bother me at all. I like living in a city where not everyone and his brother are pilots where I work. Never did like living on base.
04-24-2017, 09:38 AM
#40
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2016
Posts: 400
On a similar note, would it look bad to the interviewers to leave a Legacy job (resign in good standing) a month prior to the interview?
The what-if of losing seniority aside (let's say a person decides that PAX flying just isn't for them), would it negatively affect a person's chances?
The what-if of losing seniority aside (let's say a person decides that PAX flying just isn't for them), would it negatively affect a person's chances?
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