dckozak

Light reading on the woes of the passenger side of the airport.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/23/u...-article-click

SonicFlyer

Yep, this is what happens when socialist and corrupt Democrats take over a local government and let the thugs run wild... No one wants to go to Memphis anymore. Business doesn't want to be based there. It is a dangerous place.

It's a shame too because it used to be an awesome town.

ShyGuy

The primary reason for this plight is when NWA merged with Delta and Delta decided they only needed ATL, no MEM hub.

Nightflyer

Didn't they promise MEM would remain a hub before the merger?

Albief15

The shrinking hub has fundamentally changed a lot of commuters lives. When I was hired, there were 3 flights a day from PFN on RJs. If they were full...you could still get a ride out of VPS or TLH, both less than 2 hours away. Other than the spring break madness, getting to/from the Gulf Coast was easy, and sometimes even a pleasant experience. NW/DL contract fare was usually 250-350 bucks, so with a little deviation bank you could just lock your ride to work down and enjoy the stress free commute. When people say "they hated commuting", I would discuss my version as a case study in how you could work at FedEx and live where you wanted (within reason) with a little planning.

It was so easy, there were times I would fly up for a PM standby in the morning, work out, do the STBY, and fly home that evening. When you are just starting out and need the money you do what you need to do...

Besides the Gulf Coast--there were dozens of cities with similar options, across the midwest, LA, MS, AL....getting to work was easy. Only bad part was the occasional "gross weight limited" CRJ or not getting the exit row for the ride home. Bring cookies, a smile, and a good attitude...and I personally LOVED leaving work in Memphis and keeping my home life at home 400 miles away.

Then...with the merger...the flights dropped to 2 a day. Pinnacle then became Endeavor, moved to MSP as the airport was de-hubbed, and anything from the coast now went through ATL. IF you had travel bank money, there were no issues, except the ride took a little longer than the direct ride to work. Jumpseating? Yeah...try going offline to a former hub and see how that works. It could be done, but never with enough certainty to use it (IMHO) for planning.

Now--without as many commercial options in--if you don't live nearby you are stuck with the FedEx jumpseat. That's great if you have a ramp nearby, but for me the 1:45 drive to TLH at 9 PM or worse 5:30 AM drive home when you were exhausted could be miserable.

Maybe I am just misreading things, but anecdotally is does seem to me like a larger number of new hires are moving to Collierville than in the past. I'm glad I started my career when it was still (relatively) easy to get to MEM. These days I would be hard pressed to recommend commuting unless you have a FedEx ramp near your home.

PurpleToolBox

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Life was good when I was first hired at FedEx. If you couldn't jumpseat on FedEx, there were plenty of seats available on NWA.


For new hires, this is significant and is another thing to be aware of.



FedEx has very limited jumpseats on the weekends thru Monday. Guess when the junior trips start or end?

USMCFDX

Wednesday?

Huck

I was wondering how many posts before somebody's Fox tourettes would kick in. Second post was a little quick even for APC....

They shut down the MEM Delta hub to increase shareholder wealth at the expense of the traveling public's convenience. Larry Kudlow would be proud.

Hacker15e

Which is why it is called a "business" and not a "charity".

Huck

You can hum that tune on your two-leg deadhead from Memphis - Charlotte - Indy.....