FedEx Schedules
Trying to get a good idea of what life will be like as a FedEx pilot. VERY unfamiliar with cargo lines/reserve compared to pax flying. What can a new hire expect as far as trip lengths, days on/off, commuting, etc being Junior and how much does it change with seniority? I always hear the 777 has long trips (some as long as 2 weeks straight). Is that the same for other planes or just 777 specific. Also, how would commuting be to MEM out of ATL or CLT? Thanks for the info and PLEASE forgive my lack of knowledge.
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Use search function. There are tons of threads about this.
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For CLT to MEM, 1 am flight Sat, Sun. 1 PM flight Mon. AM and PM flight Tues thru Friday. From most cities this is the case. Flights are thin on weekends thru Mon night. I have flown the PM weekday flights a few times and the jump seats are never full. Weekends may be a different ballgame.
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[emoji882][emoji304] seriously...[emoji846]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Originally Posted by 5millionaire
(Post 2436575)
Use search function. There are tons of threads about this.
The big question is whether you’re going to be scheduled for a minimum number of days per month and how those days might be broken up - all in a single block, two or more, etc. In other words, how many times a month will you have to make the commute? If you’re coming from passenger flying, you’re probably accustomed to three days here and four days there. If you’re ACMI, you might like doing 17 days in a row and enjoying the rest of the month off. Which one of these is FedEx more like? |
FedEx Schedules
Fedex is like both. At least for reserve options. There’s any thing from 5-6 commutes in December (a 5 week bid period) to one solid stretch of 19 days. Plenty of both so you pick your poison. Lines (at least on the 75/6) don’t really have any 19 day pairings. In that case you’re looking at anything from 19 individual O&B pairings, to 2 commutes (I’m guessing very senior). But the short answer is, however you like your schedule, you’ll be able to get it (commute wise), no matter how junior you are.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
If use browse the FDX Questions thread, I think you will find your answers.
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Originally Posted by Reactivity
(Post 2466607)
The big question is whether you’re going to be scheduled for a minimum number of days per month and how those days might be broken up - all in a single block, two or more, etc. In other words, how many times a month will you have to make the commute? If you’re coming from passenger flying, you’re probably accustomed to three days here and four days there. If you’re ACMI, you might like doing 17 days in a row and enjoying the rest of the month off. Which one of these is FedEx more like?
If you have enough seniority and the pick of the litter, you could do anything from one commute per month like an ACMI to 5-6 commutes like a pax schedule. When I was junior, I minimized commutes by bidding all my reserve days in one block. If you can't hold that or don't desire that, there are reserve options with more blocks of R-days. Now on the 777, I bid single 12-14 day trips some months and two roughly week long trips other months. With enough seniority, folks flying typical domestic hub-turns can end up with a very routine week on, week off schedule which will minimize commutes. Junior folks may need to either accept a "shotgun" style schedule with more commutes, spend more time trying to massage what they have into something better via trip trades or (if there's enough coverage) drop trips exchanging pay for QOL. In general, I can say that our system here lends itself very well to minimizing commutes. With realistic expectations and some flexibility early on, there is something for just about everyone to create a very acceptable QOL. |
When new u will b on RSV and those days vary and there is a big variety.
When u become line holder there are a variety of trips but about 80-85% fit this category; working nights u will be on duty about 9-11 1/2 hours. The more SR u get u can shorten ur duty and add deadheads on front and back of trips as u get more senior u can improve layover city. Working days and sleep at nite will give u about 12-13 hour duty day with a hubturn during the day. 12 hours in the hotel and do that Tuesday thru Sunday. A smattering of oddball trips that go on what we refer to trash lines. Lots of commutes and lots of 24 hr breaks in memphis. INTL is a different animal. Long trips short trips. Trips are all similar and seniority just lets u control what days u r working. |
Originally Posted by MEMA300
(Post 2466784)
When new u will b on RSV and those days vary and there is a big variety.
When u become line holder there are a variety of trips but about 80-85% fit this category; working nights u will be on duty about 9-11 1/2 hours. The more SR u get u can shorten ur duty and add deadheads on front and back of trips as u get more senior u can improve layover city. Working days and sleep at nite will give u about 12-13 hour duty day with a hubturn during the day. 12 hours in the hotel and do that Tuesday thru Sunday. A smattering of oddball trips that go on what we refer to trash lines. Lots of commutes and lots of 24 hr breaks in memphis. INTL is a different animal. Long trips short trips. Trips are all similar and seniority just lets u control what days u r working. |
Originally Posted by FrankTheTank
(Post 2466869)
Dude. That hurt just reading it..
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Originally Posted by FrankTheTank
(Post 2466869)
Dude. That hurt just reading it.. But I'm sure you reached these millennials that don't know who 'you' is... Lol
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Just trying to speak thr language. Meet them em
They r. I've been txtng with my kids 2 much. |
Originally Posted by Fdxlag2
(Post 2466619)
If use browse the FDX Questions thread, I think you will find your answers.
Thanks for the replies, everyone. |
FedEx Schedules (757, 777)
Originally Posted by Reactivity
(Post 2467776)
I tried every option I could find.
Thanks for the replies, everyone. Reserve Schedules at Fedex:
Of the published current 777 reserve lines (warning, this is a peak month), of the 100 or so published reserve lines, 56 or so lines are a solid block of 19 days on reserve. The rest are a mixture of two blocks (two commutes to Memphis if you don't live there) and some three blocks (three commutes) throughout the month. Believe it or not, reserve can sometimes go senior as bubbas in Memphis love getting paid to stay at home. Of the published November 757 reserve lines, just three lines were a single block of 15 R days. Most other reserve lines were three blocks of R days with a few two blocks of R days throughout the month. When the 757 flying is removed from the 767 bidpack, it will have more reserve lines with long blocks instead of the mostly three blocks in the month - or at least that's the way it used to be when I was there. On the 757 you have a couple different types of flying; AM hub turns (night hub turns), PM hub turns (known as day flying), AM out and backs, PM out and backs, and the shotgun or "see America" flying. What is an AM hub turn: Your trip generally starts Tuesday morning with a 0000L-0400L report with a single flight to your destination. There are some trips with two legs to your destination and of course those go junior unless it is BOI. You land in the morning and you crew rest all day. You then depart around 9PM and fly back to the Memphis hub. You then wait in Memphis during the evening sort. There are sleep rooms available, a cafeteria, snack bar with all you can eat/drink popcorn coffee, or if you live close by in Memphis you can make a quick stop at home or the crashpad but you're still on duty. Then around 0000L-0400L you'll fly back to your destination. Rinse repeat. That is one "hub turn." You'll do this all week until Friday night/Saturday morning. Once you land Saturday morning at your destination, you'll have a long layover there until Monday night around 9PM where you will fly back to Memphis and your trip usually ends or has one more night hub turn depending on how the scheduling committee is building trips. A variation of the typical AM hub turn can have a deadhead on commercial airlines (DAL, AA, UAL etc.etc.) leaving Sunday morning and arriving at your destination in the evening on Sunday. You then go into crew rest. On Monday at 9PM, you fly back to Memphis starting your week of hub turns. The trip may extend over the weekend OR it may end with a deadhead on commercial airlines back to Memphis (no long layover). There seems to be no rhyme or reason why some destinations get long layovers and some which get the deadheads. A PM hub turn is like an AM hubturn except that most of the flying is during the day (well no overnight flying). You report at Memphis around noon-3pm, fly to your destination and land in the evening, layover, and then return back to Memphis in the morning just before 10am-noon. You sit during the afternoon sort where you can go eat, workout, sleep, go home, etc.etc. but you're still on duty. Then you fly back to your destination. Rinse repeat. AM out and backs: You report in the early morning (0000L-0400L), fly to your destination(s), then immediately return to Memphis. No layover. Must block in at Memphis prior to 10am Central Time. Do this all week (Tuesday early morning through Friday early morning .. or 4 days). PM out and back: Same as the AM out and back except you depart Memphis after the afternoon sort (1400-1600L), fly to your destination(s), and then return back to Memphis for the evening sort around 10PM-0100L. Shotgun: These lines can have multiple departures from Memphis which would be very bad for commuters. Imagine looking at a month calendar and imagining a shotgun pattern. They consist of single day trips, several two and three day trips. They also can have lots of deadheads on commercial airliners. Great for people who live in Memphis and who want or need scheduled flexibility. See America: Usually these lines head out west from Memphis with long (longer than 24 hours) layovers. The cool things about these trips is that they may start with the evening sort (0000L-0400L) but they can transition to day flying on the next legs or days. For example, early morning flight to Portland, layover, spend all day and night there, then the following morning fly to LAX, layover all day and then on the following early morning fly back to Memphis and land just before the day sort (10am-noon). That is about as best as I can tell you about 757 flying. There are also trips that hubturn our hubs in EWR, LAX, AFW, and IND. 777 flying: Nearly all of it is long haul and our layovers are usually much longer than passenger airline long haul flying. We do have some domestic trips to IND and EWR and they may be embedded in trips with international long haul flights. Typical 777 Trip: Report to Memphis around 0000L-0400L and fly long haul to international destination. Block under 8 hours and it is two pilots, over 8 hours is three pilots, and over 12 is four pilots. You continue flying around the world and eventually end up back in Memphis. Trips can be long ... 10-13 days scheduled. Of the current bid pack, 20 trips were single departure (one long block trip). The rest were trips made up of two blocks (5-7 day trips) and some three blocks. The number of weeks in the month will determine trip lengths and construction. You can also have a report after the afternoon sort (1400-1600L) and fly to Europe and land in the morning just like the passenger airlines do. There aren't many of these.(STN, CDG, CGN ... all I can think of). But these are rare and most 777 trips start in the early morning after the AM sort. Also, as with many of the trips at FDX, many of the 777 trips start or end, or both, with commercial deadheads. One thing I did not mention is our secondary line process and secondary lines which are lines that are constructed after the main bid is completed and people have used vacation, training, ecetera to drop trips. A secondary line can consist of all trips, all reserve, or a mixture of the two. It is our version of PBS for the left overs. Any trips that can't be built into a line for someone are then published in the Open Time listing where they are either picked up by anyone or given to reserve pilots to man them. Confused? Note ... Don't take everything I said as gospel, there are exceptions to everything including the exceptions. Also, I'm sure I didn't quite say something 100% accurate so please if there is something wrong, I apologize, and someone please correct me. Cheers. |
Thanks for taking the time to type this in depth explanation _FATboy.
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An excellent resource, thanks!
Hopefully I'll be able to 'see America' soon. |
Slight correction/explanation to what KC-10 said.
The Reserve periods (in Memphis) are: RP-A: 01:30-13:30 RP-B: 13:30-01:30 The call out is 1+30 prior to that, which gives you a phone availability from 00:00-12:00, etc. There is also an RP-A+, and RP-B+, which are halfway between RP-A & B. |
KC10 FATboy thanks for the detailed explanation.
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Call out is 1+30 if there is an active airport standby. If there is no active airport standby the call out is 1 hour with short call parking meaning don't have to park in distant long term lot with a bus ride with stuff springs.
Wish we had short call long call. |
Originally Posted by MEMA300
(Post 2472426)
Wish we had short call long call.
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Also, regarding the time on the ground in MEM during day or night hub turns. You’re not “on duty” by any stretch of the imagination. You’re in domicile, your trip is over, you’re off the pay clock and not accruing any per diem. What I think he meant to convey is the time you spend turning in MEM counts toward you total duty because it’s not long enough to constitute a legal rest period.
My theory on the “rhyme or reason” of weekend layovers versus deadheads is simple dollars and cents. If it’s cheaper to deadhead a crew out on Fri/Sat and deadhead another in Mon rather that pay two pilots for the layover plus per diem, then the bean counters make the call. |
Originally Posted by PW305
(Post 2472437)
We do, R24... oh wait 🤔
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Thanks for the detailed write up guys. Hope to one day to work there. Living in west Tn, FDX would be great for me.
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Originally Posted by Adlerdriver
(Post 2472460)
Also, regarding the time on the ground in MEM during day or night hub turns. You’re not “on duty” by any stretch of the imagination. You’re in domicile, your trip is over, you’re off the pay clock and not accruing any per diem. What I think he meant to convey is the time you spend turning in MEM counts toward you total duty because it’s not long enough to constitute a legal rest period.
My theory on the “rhyme or reason” of weekend layovers versus deadheads is simple dollars and cents. If it’s cheaper to deadhead a crew out on Fri/Sat and deadhead another in Mon rather that pay two pilots for the layover plus per diem, then the bean counters make the call. And remember: Off duty - no requirement to answer your phone |
Weekend layovers also seem to dwindle/disappear when manning is tight likely for productivity since the layover days count as days worked on a line.
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Thanks for taking the time to type that out KC10 Fatboy.
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Originally Posted by DLax85
(Post 2472568)
Amazed how many guys don’t know, or understand, the significance of your first paragraph.
And remember: Off duty - no requirement to answer your phone |
Originally Posted by MEMA300
(Post 2473147)
6 hour day hubturn layovers hurt the per diem check
Two 757 trips...compare them. 394 goes to Jax during the day, 754 to TLH at night. I picked those because I've flown both (in the MD-11 and 727 respectively) and they are about the same distance. The day trip pays 19 hours per diem. The AM trip pays 22. Our new domestic per diem rate is $2.30 domestically. So--basic math: JAX day trip pays $43.70. TLH pays $50.60, or a different of $6.90. In the event just [I]maybe[I] you would rather fly days, go have a beer at dinner, and piddle away 4-5 hours in MEM during the day working out, golfing, working on business endeavors, or whatever, but really need that seven bucks...here's a suggestion. Eat cat food. Really. You can get some saltines, a can of cat food, and have a lunch and pocket and invest that 7 bucks while you read your Dave Ramsey book. You are probably still healthier, happier, and wealthier than being a bleary eyed hub turn machine. Years ago I knew a captain who said his whole goal for his month was to eat on less than his per diem every day on the road. Ryan's buffets were one option, but his standard SOP was to RTB to the room with some subway or McDonalds take out. Then again..."Living the Dream" is a matter of individual taste. :rolleyes: Conversely, if you cannot hold day flying, your goal is to go find a "Captain Cat Food" and make him an offer he cannot refuse. Offer to trade your high per diem, middle of the night multi leg hub turn, and tell him you will even pay him ten whole dollars a day to offset any potential per diem shortfall. Me? If/when I RTB to the land of the big BX, I will gladly trade any night flying for your day trip and hand you a crisp set of bills for the difference. At WB captain rates I'll even throw in more than the 7 bucks..... |
I spend way more than my per diem every day. Usually buying my FO's beer when I'm lucky enough to have a layover long enough. So making a casual comment about lack of per diem when not on legal rest is nothing more than that. I'd rather never get a per diem raise and tear up the SIG side letter and the 8/24 givebacks.
BTW. Still can't hold day trips. |
Copy all, and didn't mean to sound snarky. We take what we can get. I will not dime out Catfood's name, but I still smile when I see him.
FYI...all 10 guys bidding into or (back) into the HKG base were senior to me. My MD-11 day flying and Paris trips are also a distant memory. Its hub turns for me UFN... |
Every contract, I tell the NC I want full per diem.
On the 777, it would have increased my pay by at least $10,000 a year, tax free. Funny, they never seem to negotiate for it, but they keep telling me it is "my union" and "my negotiating committee speaks for me". Uh, I don't think so. ALPA national does not get dues from full per diem. If they did, I bet we would have had it long ago. If "my" union really worked "for me", they would negotiate based on my preferences, not ALPA national's. |
Originally Posted by Albief15
(Post 2473227)
FYI...all 10 guys bidding into or (back) into the HKG base were senior to me. ..
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Originally Posted by NoHaz
(Post 2473308)
I suspect several senior bidders are practice only players. Waiting for the final practice for real numbers.
From 2008-14, I could have held it on the initial bid only. Since then, there have been 2 I could have held and the latest that I could not. Memphis MD-11 is becoming the junior WB in the system for the left seat...who would have thought a few years ago? |
Originally Posted by Albief15
(Post 2473227)
Copy all, and didn't mean to sound snarky. ..
Originally Posted by Albief15
(Post 2473227)
...here's a suggestion. Eat cat food. Really. You can get some saltines, a can of cat food, and have a lunch and pocket and invest that 7 bucks while you read your Dave Ramsey book...
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Originally Posted by Sluggo_63
(Post 2472344)
Slight correction/explanation to what KC-10 said.
The Reserve periods (in Memphis) are: RP-A: 01:30-13:30 RP-B: 13:30-01:30 The call out is 1+30 prior to that, which gives you a phone availability from 00:00-12:00, etc. There is also an RP-A+, and RP-B+, which are halfway between RP-A & B.
Originally Posted by MEMA300
(Post 2472426)
Call out is 1+30 if there is an active airport standby. If there is no active airport standby the call out is 1 hour with short call parking meaning don't have to park in distant long term lot with a bus ride with stuff springs.
Wish we had short call long call.
Originally Posted by Adlerdriver
(Post 2472460)
Also, regarding the time on the ground in MEM during day or night hub turns. You’re not “on duty” by any stretch of the imagination. You’re in domicile, your trip is over, you’re off the pay clock and not accruing any per diem. What I think he meant to convey is the time you spend turning in MEM counts toward you total duty because it’s not long enough to constitute a legal rest period.
My theory on the “rhyme or reason” of weekend layovers versus deadheads is simple dollars and cents. If it’s cheaper to deadhead a crew out on Fri/Sat and deadhead another in Mon rather that pay two pilots for the layover plus per diem, then the bean counters make the call. I left out the schedules for the 767, MD, and Airbus but really I don't think they're all that different. Hub turns are hub turns, days or nights. Long haul is long haul. Then there are the see America trips with longer layovers or coast to coast point to point flying. |
After looking at some of the domestic schedules at FedEx, there are a lot of back to back trips with only a weekend off in between. How do commuters cope with this and how easy is it to drop trips, if one is more interested in days off than money?
I'm looking at commuting from the west coast. If a trip were to start with a deadhead on AA to MIA, would the travel bank funds still cover a commute across the country? |
Originally Posted by Sike
(Post 2478285)
After looking at some of the domestic schedules at FedEx, there are a lot of back to back trips with only a weekend off in between. How do commuters cope with this and how easy is it to drop trips, if one is more interested in days off than money?
If the back to back trips you describe end with a deadhead out and then start with another deadhead back to the same city there’s another option. You cancel the DHs and use the money from both tickets to stay in the hotel for the weekend as well as collect per diem for the time you’re there. Not really in line with your time at home over pay priority since neither is happening for the weekend but it can be a commuter friendly option to minimize the hassle.
Originally Posted by Sike
(Post 2478285)
I'm looking at commuting from the west coast. If a trip were to start with a deadhead on AA to MIA, would the travel bank funds still cover a commute across the country?
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Good info, thanks!
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Originally Posted by MEMA300
(Post 2472426)
Call out is 1+30 if there is an active airport standby. If there is no active airport standby the call out is 1 hour with short call parking meaning don't have to park in distant long term lot with a bus ride with stuff springs.
Wish we had short call long call. |
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