Anthrax

Actually, I believe … and furthermore … because I was there, the good ole days, when Fred dropped in to say how-do, amid all the hoopla … these MD-11 FO positions in the MD, of all airframes … and the formal talks and such … tell us more, jacka$$, I mean, Jakal.

Huck

I flew postal freight up to 2001 with Gemini.

That big ramp on the northwest side of Indy with the tower. That was the sort. Back then there was a fleet of greasy 727's over there - Ryan, maybe? Some were painted up in Postal Service livery.

I don't think FDX has ever carried more than 50% of postal freight.

hercretired

who is to say the "postal contract" may be via FedEx trucks

and air, via another myriad of hungry bidders

TheBear

Makes sense.

Birdsmash

A lot/most of the USPS B727s belonged to ExpressOne.

Maddog64

I went to the Air Inc conference in Dallas in Jan of 2001. When Dennis Bondarude (sp) got up to speak he said something to the effect of I can now talk about it. It is official, we signed the contract to haul the US mail. I need to hire everyone in this room and a friend.

I finished 72fe training on July and until Sept there were 75 guys a night on reserve and no flying. Sept 1st it dropped down to a normal 12 to 15 on reserve per night.

HIFLYR

Going to hard to do with that all electric fleet they are buying!

hercretired

July 2023 article so not exactly brand new info, but....

https://www.govexec.com/management/2...strike/388342/

so one would have to presume the next contract will be less aircraft dependent.

C17B74

May not be as fast obviously, but definitely would be less costly which is a no brainer when you are hyper focused on streamlining. Much easier to automate as well.

Rock

Based on the last couple FedEx quarterly reports, the Post Office has already shifted most of its mail off our airplanes. We aren’t seeing the impact in our bid packs because the contract we currently have with them requires us to continue to fly the routes. So we’re flying the routes but not making revenue from carrying their mail. We’re losing money on them as a result. That will most likely continue until our current contract with them expires in September. At this point, because the Post Office has already made about 90% of its planned system changes, what remains isn’t even close to making us money. So the idea that FedEx is hoping to renew rhe contract and that we will benefit from the flying that results is already basically dead in the water.
We (FedEx pilots) need to accept the reality that both the Post Office and FedEx have very dramatically shifted their business models in the last couple years. The shift the Post Office has made significantly affects our flying, because they were our largest customer by a long shot. They made up much of our domestic day flying. Anyone who thinks the postal contract as we’ve known it is going to be renewed and our flying isn’t going to change isn’t living in reality. The changes have ALREADY happened. Again, the only reason they aren’t reflected in our bid pack is because until the current postal contract dies, we still have to fly the routes. So unless the Post Office reverses the changes it has already made, and are mandated by LAW to have taken place, we should anticipate a future that doesn’t involve flying their mail.