Flightcap

I'm glad you like it. I'm about to start a job that satisfies all my career goals so I'm happy with where I am. But I'm sure Fedex has a more positive vibe than that which permeates this thread.

GogglesPisano

golfandfly

This thread is one of the best. Why not have a laugh or two? Many of the original post examples are actually true.

I've had laughs over gesture and checklist bullying and some of the other stuff that has happened here recently. Funny stuff if you ask me.

Almost all of the FOs I've flown with have been exceptional. Out of 4,000+ pilots, there is always some kind of nonsense going on. I'd say at least half the time it's coming from the left seat....

Laughing_Jakal

First off, it is a jet. Now if we were flying turboprops....I could get how that would irritate you...The first aircraft I flew had a prop....I logged a whopping 12.0 hours in that. I did most of my "learning to fly" in two different jets....as did many of the military guys at FedEx....I was essentially a pedestrian when I went to Air Force pilot training. The last aircraft I flew in the AF was a C-130....and we didn't call it a jet. But at FedEx mainline...all we fly are jets.

Now if your military or civilian time was exclusively turboprops, you may not be used to using the term, it would be culturally incongruent. In-fact, there may have been a toolbag in your past that called it a "jet", so naturally it would be an easy thing to deride an individual who called it a "jet"....but now, that particular derision doesn't seem to make sense...but...for the sake of inclusivity I will now suggest that we "Step to 'the Non-Turboprop turbine powered heavier than air aerospace vehicle'".

While I say that in jest, I am very serious when I can say that I have never heard new hires get less than a warm welcome from just about everybody. If that didn't happen to you, I would hope it was the exception. We went a long time without hiring, and when we started again, everybody was happy. New classes mean that business is good, retirements are continuing, and we have a new stream of enthusiasm and fresh faces....(New people who haven't yet heard our long-worn out military stories). We are incredulous, yet happy that a new hire can go directly to the right seat of a widebody...especially those that had to sit sideways for a long period of time.

Seriously (again), when new hires come on property it's like getting a bigger family.....(not like the birth of a child....that implies a baby that needs care). More like when someone marries into the family...Hopefully they have as much enthusiasm to join the family as the family has welcoming them into it.

I grew up in a huge melting pot....the term "diversity" always makes my skin crawl because it's root is in division and emphasizes what makes us different. Maybe we should talk about "similarity"....after all, the word implies that two things are inherently different, but concentrates on the commonality.

Your Screenname spells Life with a "Y".....Lyfe....what I get out of that is you're putting an emphasis on being just a little bit different...which is ok by me, but I wonder if always looking for differences, defining yourself as "someone who is not like those guys" is what makes you feel excluded....I may be way off here...its just a supposition and I am frequently wrong.

I'm hoping some recent hires will chime in and tell us honestly if they weren't welcomed....you said "maybe then young FO's start to feel welcome"....This statement flabbergasted me because over half of our seniority list was hired in the last 17 years....If that's so, then the young are eating their own.

We were all new hires once.....the fat pilot with gray hair and bags under his/her eyes didn't start that way, certainly doesn't perceive him or herself that way. A guy may wear his Costco jeans, white tennis shoes, polo shirt, and FedEx leather jacket on a layover because that may be the only part of the wardrobe that fits and he's at a point in his life that packing a snappy outfit for a layover isn't that important to him... ....and 20 years from now, some new hire may look at you and say "get outta my seat"...that's kinda the nature of life.

I often tell my kids, you can't accurately measure a person by his best day, or his worst.....

If you don't feel welcomed here, then we have failed as a collective group, and I hope we only failed you. Fly with me and I'll try to make up for it....but I won't treat you any different than any of the other new hires. I'll buy your dinner, tell you what you need to know in the contract and answer any questions you might have.

I'm obviously rambling here. Haven't posted here in years and probably won't for some time because I'm sure I will inspire some vitriol with my comments.

I will add that I wear skinny jeans too....well, it's not that they're so skinny...it's just that my legs and my waist have gotten so fat!

Laughing_Jakal

I think that is "Gaston" from Beauty and the Beast!

skypine27

Hey guys, is the FOM cool with cufflinks?

Dougdrvr

One of my favorite quotes from some one I greatly respected was, " 90% of CRM is making up for a bad Captain."

Dougdrvr

Did this guy really shave of one eyebrow?

FrankTheTank

Nah ... just the Uni

GogglesPisano