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American or FedEx

Old 09-16-2018, 06:07 PM
  #1  
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Default American or FedEx

I'm looking for some input on my future in commercial aviation. I'm fortunate enough to have an opportunity at FDX and AA but need some help making a decision.

I'm in my early 30's and separating from active duty after 10 years. I am joining a reserve unit to make it to 20 years and get a reserve retirement. AA has a base co-located with my reserve job which allows me to avoid commuting. Class dates for both jobs are within a month of one another.

I guess the big question is do the benefits of commuting to a FDX job outweigh the benefits of living in base with AA?

Thank you in advance for all of the feedback. I know that I found threads like these incredibly useful even before I started the application process!
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Old 09-16-2018, 06:13 PM
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The Fedex biz model is vulnerable to AI and technology, including single pilot operations. You'd think by now FDX and UPS would be a part of Amazon's success... Memphis is a tough town to support FX...

AMR has too few WBs... and they are not ALPA..

It would be different if you had to choose between DAL and UAL.
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Old 09-16-2018, 06:16 PM
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not an airline pilot but everyone has told me that go to the major with no commute
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Old 09-16-2018, 06:25 PM
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Great problem to have. Commuting from CLT, if that is where you are, is easy to do with AA flying about 6 nonstops a day plus two more Fedex flights. It is an easy commute. I did it before I moved to MEM. Fedex hasn’t furloughed, knock on wood, and the pension are why I went here.
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Old 09-16-2018, 06:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Rajplt View Post
Great problem to have. Commuting from CLT, if that is where you are, is easy to do with AA flying about 6 nonstops a day plus two more Fedex flights. It is an easy commute. I did it before I moved to MEM. Fedex hasn’t furloughed, knock on wood, and the pension are why I went here.
FX pension is a hard target for the company... union trying to come up with innovative solutions... good luck.
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Old 09-16-2018, 06:43 PM
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FDX defined benefit isn’t going anywhere unless FDX ALPA negotiates it away.

Can’t speak for FDX, but Amazon air volume at UPS has increased even as Prime Air nears their 40th in-service 767. Both FDX and UPS are adding airframes and hiring pilots to support volume growth.

Single-pilot cargo ops are DECADES away; looks great in theory on paper, will be completely unreliable in operation for a multitude of reasons.

Sky ain’t anywhere NEAR falling on overnight express delivery.

That said, no commute plus AA’s massive retirement wave make it hard to pass up IMO.
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Old 09-16-2018, 07:04 PM
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.

Last month I attended ALPA's Air Safety Symposium.

One of the Guest Speakers (she had a Ph.D) was one of the FAA's "experts" on artificial intelligence and cockpit design. She doesn't think single pilot ops will happen in our lifetime!*?

She says there are 5 levels of AI. She says that after years of working on the problem that the auto manufactures don't think they'll be able to get to the 3rd level.

It's her feeling that the (unnamed) folks suggesting such an idea just don't understand what pilots do for a living. If your "single pilot" has any sort of a problem (laser?) that you become a UAV!

I don't think I'd let single pilot ops scare me away from FedEx. That said ... it would be nice not to have to commute to either work of the Reserves.

Good luck.

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Old 09-16-2018, 10:19 PM
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Ask yourself this:

Do you like comfort animals and their owners?

Do you like having your career in jeopardy of ending because Latanya wants to get a free ticket and is filming your every move for Twitter?

Do you like people asking you where baggage claim is?

Do you like TSA trying to sniff you every morning to find out if you had a drink in an effort to end your career?

Do you like security lines?

Do you like being told about every horrific bad experience a person has had at any airline because you’re an airline pilot?

Do you like adjusting the temperature 14 times in 7 min because it was requested by 3 different FAs who won’t talk to each other because ones sleeping with a gate agent that another has the hots for?

Do you like trying to talk to drunk people who take swings at you while being recorded on camera by millennials and other social media filmmakers?

Do you like the thought of going to work with a group of angry individuals who constantly complain about how they were wronged by a seniority integration McAbortion?

Do you like waiting for a gate, every, single, time?

Do you like waiting to goto the bathroom or to eat until the fat cow working the oven has completed destroying the forward Lav and pilfered thru your rice crispie breakfast “meal.”

Do the words “hired until the day they furloughed” mean anything to you?

Do you find anatomy measuring contests with gate agents a pleasurable experience?

Do you like waiting 7-8 years to make the same amount of money a FedEx pilot will make before he/she is off probation?

Do you like bragging about how your 5 days of vacation resulted in exactly 5 days off?

Do you like airport terminal food, cold, because you don’t have enough time to eat between the 4 flights a day and don’t trust the “chicken like product,” Delores said was loaded for you?

Does getting paid 7 hours for flying a red eye, sitting in a hotel room a full day, and flying back late on day 3 sound reasonable to you?
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Old 09-16-2018, 10:33 PM
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Originally Posted by HighDimension View Post
I'm looking for some input on my future in commercial aviation. I'm fortunate enough to have an opportunity at FDX and AA but need some help making a decision.

I'm in my early 30's and separating from active duty after 10 years. I am joining a reserve unit to make it to 20 years and get a reserve retirement. AA has a base co-located with my reserve job which allows me to avoid commuting. Class dates for both jobs are within a month of one another.

I guess the big question is do the benefits of commuting to a FDX job outweigh the benefits of living in base with AA?

Thank you in advance for all of the feedback. I know that I found threads like these incredibly useful even before I started the application process!
FedEX for sure. Better pay and stability long term.

AA financials are a wreck. Worst of all the legacies by far.

And all the negative things about pax terminal life... those are every day things. Often many the same day...
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Old 09-16-2018, 11:16 PM
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Originally Posted by HighDimension View Post
I'm looking for some input on my future in commercial aviation. I'm fortunate enough to have an opportunity at FDX and AA but need some help making a decision.

I'm in my early 30's and separating from active duty after 10 years. I am joining a reserve unit to make it to 20 years and get a reserve retirement. AA has a base co-located with my reserve job which allows me to avoid commuting. Class dates for both jobs are within a month of one another.

I guess the big question is do the benefits of commuting to a FDX job outweigh the benefits of living in base with AA?

Thank you in advance for all of the feedback. I know that I found threads like these incredibly useful even before I started the application process!
Sounds like a win-win to me. AA, no commute, lots of retirements. FDX, stability, less stressful/more mission oriented job, easy commuting airline. You'll retire very senior at either if you're in your early 30's. I'd guess you'll be a 777 captain at FDX sooner, however.

I flew people before this, and initially, I missed the interactions with passengers and FA's. Now... not so much. I've learned that most of the stress caused by this job takes place in the terminal or because of something a passenger or FA did.

I like my job flying boxes. I can nap easily and don't mind the nighttime stuff. I make solid coin for a very easy, low-stress job and the layovers can be a lot of fun. I have a good amount of flexibility to drop/swap/move stuff around when needed. I get paid to commute to/from work with all our deadhead trips, can turn a week of vacation into a month with only 5 workdays, and routinely get blocks of days off over 7. It works for me!

What color do you like? Purple or Red, White and Blue?
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