Stan and Boomer disagree. They are ready to jump in bed with the Pig TA.

Maybe I'm being overly optimistic but it seems from the conversations while transiting MEM, that this TA is going to fall hard.

….Who did not offer any unique insights or wisdom…

I don’t like this TA but his analysis had enough errors or misunderstandings that it undermines any of his valid points. This TA undersells itself without Mr. I’m a cool all knowing 8 year Delta pilot.

2025
Delta A350/330/B787 $454.96
Fedex B777/MD-11 $409.76
~%43 Fedex pilots fly B767/A300
~%43 Fedex pilots fly B777/MD-11 for $55 an hour less than.
~%14 Fedex pilots fly B757 for less than B737 pay!

We are settling for way less than we should.

The 767's at the other properties are also pay banded to the 757,321N, 737Max10 so basically what these folks are saying is that our top pay rate should be compared to other airlines mid-tier rate and we should be happy.

They also gloss over that all the 767s are being phased out and replaced with aircraft at the highest WB rates.

Your numbers are correct, however couple things to keep in mind. We all know that pay rates are only one piece of the puzzle. Delta may be adding more WB to replace 767s, but their WB fleet is 15% of their total fleet compared to FDX with over 60% WB. The 737Max10 doesn't exist yet. And Delta has PBS and only 70% of the vacation hours that FDX does (160 vs 216). That is 56 hours or 7-8 days of work FDX pilots get off with pay vs Delta. The MD11s are going away (45 aircraft) and replaced with 24 767 and 6 777s I believe. Delta is seeing a sliver of their fleet being replaced with larger WB where FDX has the reverse. I would also surmise this is happening since there are very limited freighter aircraft options out there.

Pilots didn’t decide to buy wide body aircraft. The company did. They did because it makes better economic sense to fly fewer wide body aircraft into most markets than multiple smaller aircraft. Part of that economic analysis is based on paying market rates. They make more profit with this decision, and FedEx pilots don’t have profit sharing.

The pilots fly the aircraft chosen by the company, and should do that at market rates. Not below market rate! PILOTS SHOULD NOT SUBSIDIZE a company’s business decision to buy bigger aircraft. Do we hire less qualified pilots? Do we have a large group of cabin crews to pay also? Does FedEx pay less for jet fuel because it’s just cargo?

We generate more revenue for FedEx than Delta pilots do for Delta. Multiple times more. Pilot cost as a percentage of revenue is much lower at FedEx. If FedEx used same %, we would be paid over twice what we are paid now. That is unreasonable, but getting paid equivalent should be mandatory.

It doesn’t matter what is loaded in the airplane. We don’t have FAA cargo rules, we have 121 rules. We don’t have cargo only airports, we go to same one’s passenger airlines use. We fly more challenging schedules. We fly all over the world, not just Europe/Asia and back.

Having large numbers of wide body aircraft influenced my decision to come here but not with the plan to do it for lesser pay scale than people flying the same equipment for a company that is not nearly as profitable as FedEx.

I agree the company chooses the aircraft, just like Delta chooses to nearly 90% of their fleet as narrow body aircraft.

A FedEx flight may generate revenue than a Delta flight, but FDX has tremendously higher costs to move the contents of the aircraft. Delta may have cabin attendants to pay, as you noted, but you didn't mention the dozens if not hundreds of couriers, loaders, sorters, and handlers it takes to pick up, drive to airport, load, unload, sort and deliver the cargo. Yes Delta has F/As, CSR, and baggage handlers, but not in the volume that FDX has. Delta's operating margin/profit margin is 9.4%/3.5% vs FDX at 7.1%/4.4%. Not exactly the same, but not exceptionally different.

Would I like to see higher rates at FDX? Of course! But I look at why does Delta have a $417 top pay rate? Why do the American regionals pay $427 to their LCAs? Pilot hiring leverage! FDX pilots don't have it. If this TA is rejected, my guess is it will be likely 18-24 months before there is a need to hire another pilot, especially with the draw down of the MD11. Many of those close to retirement may wait to see if TA2 is coming around the corner, but the company has no need to expedite a second round of negotiating. The freight will continue to get moved and management can save the $70M a month that they would have been paying out to pilots in pay and benefits. If the TA is approved, there will likely be more pilots over 60, who were just waiting to see if an A plan bump was available, will be off to their boats and golf courses and everyone else gets to move up. If not, everyone hangs out for months while a new group of reps and NC members are assembled and trained. This conversation is not made out of fear, merely a time value of money calculation. How much more will be gained waiting for TA2 and will it be enough to warrant the delay? Everyone has an opinion on it. I just don't think it will.

Oooooh oooh oooh. Now do the comparison of our annual sick leave, the percentage of our lines to the secondary system, our reserve rules, and our profit sharing to theirs. I'll wait.

I don't think we are going to see much in the way of pilot retirements if this TA passes. A paltry 32K bump in the A plan is hardly a reason to walk early. With the pay rates at least whats in this TA, guys will be greedy and stay.

I guess I don't understand lots of your fuzzy math. You might be right we have no leverage, but pilot groups rarely do, and this Administration has shown its willing to not release critical employees like railway workers.

Just hoping for a one time bump in seniority in a shrinking airline isn't much of a career expectation either, as ASL expands and pilot staffing companies are offering jobs to 757/767 to fly freight globally, both of which are apparently not connected at all, at all, to Fedex seniority list jobs.

The fact that Scope, which was already extraordinarily in Fedex's favor, was opened by the company was an huge warning and failure to tighten it an even more egregious error.