Peace Out FedEx
04-16-2024 | 12:04 AM
#281
Line Holder
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
Just flew my last trip and what a relief to be out of the purple promise and state of affairs. The following are my 75 + reasons why FedEx was a joke…. in addition to stagnation, Drive 2.0, and not to swing gear over the next decade for a shrinking operation.
Memphis. Need I say anymore? Great entertainment driving around if you aren’t afraid of being the true minority in all places of business and crime. Automatic gunfire is always interesting from the nearby projects at simulator building. Everyone local says Collierville, Olive Branch, and Cordova are the places to live. They are all dumps……and living 30 years behind the times.
Expense reports. Company Credit card used to stay at non contract hotels. Having to fight for every penny several months later. Fighting for a normal hotel charge, just think how stupid that sounds.
VP of flight ops, and the “new guy” from Atlas. Haven’t turned a wheel in 20 years and totally out of touch with reality. I didn’t think management could sink to a new low in this industry but now it has. LCA warned me about both of them being JV hacks and they were absolutely correct. The PSA memo was just an icing on the cake. Atlas leader will totally bring the Atlas playbook here for negotiations and massive cost savings. Another TA is atleast 18-20 months away from right now - March ‘24
BLG and 68 hours per month with a reduction to possibly 50 hours in the near future.
Hedge fund people joining Board of directors left and right should be an indication of what’s coming next 2-3 years
Scope language the company is seeking is dangerous and right around the corner. The company will break this rule anyway when they need their grand plan put in place in ‘24 for “Drive”
Incorrect wet lease payments to pilot group year after year after year. ALPA is even confused most of the time with whose eligible and when you were considered “activated”
No profit sharing. Making 2 billion per quarter. Not year, quarter. Number 17 on the Fortune 500 company
A terribly negotiated TA 1.0 from both sides. Very unprofessional and beyond cheap in all sections. This union and company don’t understand real time work rules that benefit both sides. As time goes on I never believed it, but now at times think ALPA is possibly paid off under the table. The negotiating committee would be a good stand up comedy show downtown after what I witnessed at the first roadshow in July.
757 chief pilot in late 2023 (mgmt) participating in group chats about TA 2.0 with many union reps. Such a true professional
ALPA Block rep 1. Bumps her own FedEx pilots off her jumpseat to make room for her offline husband. Such loyalty. That’s true love though. I hope she tries to catch a ride with me someday.
The lack of communication from company about anything going on in the business. It’s like they don’t even exist. Everything is a secret in every department.
“Meeting at the folder” to brief ? Why, when there’s 6 different briefings that will take place in the airplane before you move an inch. Then again the folder was a great place to find out what “type” of captain you’re paired with.
FO does every walk around. Even though mechanics do it as well at the same time. I have no idea how to program FMC for preflight “oh you don’t need to know any of the preflight aspects on the flight deck” is what some captains have told me
Let’s check every warning system on the airplane every flight. Nothing like a config warning being checked 21 times per week. Love hearing all the GPWS noises during preflight. Bus Tie checks on 757 as an example. First flight of the day checks is a term not used at FedEx
“Got your docs ?” …And if I didn’t what would I do at this point 10 mins prior to push anyway
Security briefings when there’s no jumpseaters is absurd.
767 CAs referring to jumpseaters as “could be hijackers” is an insult. (All 76 jump seats are in cockpit) I’ve heard it more than once.
767 and A300 captains that would say no if you asked to put your bags up front instead of in the back in the netting. Still scratching my head at why we couldn’t accommodate our own pilots
MD11 wrestling mats for rest areas. Great sleep
Water diapers. Need I say more. “That’s how it was when I was an FE back in 1992”
Overwater kit for W&B. Rafts are going to make that much of a difference? If it’s such a big deal why don’t all aircraft just have them installed ?
FOM briefings are from the 1980s. No one listens to any of this old non sense. I guess I didn’t share the “mental model” most flights.
CA reads/briefs the FO on the ATIS outloud ? I can read what came off the printer myself thank you very much
There is no common sense up until pushback with how much we brief and brief and talk about the simplest stuff. These briefings were “so important” most people referred to a briefing card or note checklist on iPad to make sure we covered all 39 items
Must take off times were mandatory briefs. Because IND-EWR with an on time departure is going to be such a factor for our day
It’s 89 degrees out and the cockpit is over 100. But don’t start that APU until 5 mins prior. Oh wait, there’s baby chicks/ducks onboard, start it 45 mins prior now. Never been more miserable and uncomfortable in an airplane than sitting in a FedEx cockpit. All fleets. Some captains have become sheep with this rule and don’t look out for everyone else onboard when it’s hot and humid
Paper fuel slips from 2001. At least I know that you really don’t need to turn them in because after IOE I didn’t and never heard boo about them
TOLD Cards. Unbelievable how much paper “needed to be present” entire flight. I threw a W&B in the trash once reaching cruise and the CA said “whoa whoa we need that, the FOM says so”
Performance briefing. I would say “K Indy”instead of “K I N D” and some guys would want me to say it again. This was an excellent indicator who I was sitting next to for the next few hours.
LTAET. It works about 5% of the time. The monthly reminders and LCA talking about it gets exhausting. Again, common sense item when you’re number 20 in line at JFK not number 3 going to 18R. The more its emphasized the less your crews will comply.
Can’t have ground and tower in COMM1. Departure freq has to be in standby entire time from gate to lift off in COMM1. No one can explain that one yet.
Below the line taking the runway. Unsafe as FO is heads down for entire time and it’s constant challenge and response
“Before TO checklist complete, runway 36L verified” doesn’t need to be said after you read back a takeoff clearance. It can be done anytime. Then again I’m sure navy guys not on a carrier are overwhelmed at an airport with more than 1 runway.
FO “has the airplane” but the CA is always advancing the thrust levers. Ok sure why not 🤔
Keep your hands on the thrust for climb and decent ? That’s an old 727 thing. The A/T do a much better job than any human 95% of the time
Making a change in the FMC yourself while climbing and descending while PF is the biggest no no. Autopilot on of course.
The airports that were considered “special airports” …nothing special about them other than short, and CAs anxiety about them were comical. Was rare that an FO got to land at these places. RNO, ROA, ONT, RIC, ELP, etc
The detail in briefing an arrival is absurd here. Both pilots are totally out of the picture as we’re going check check check check check. Sometime during a decent or runway change there are 5 mins where no one is flying the airplane. Period.
Vacating a flight level to ATC ? That’s only for a non radar environment in North American airspace. No other airline does anything remotely close to that or has an FOM carry over rule from the 1980s
Altitude verification. Let’s wait silently and point rather than just say the ALT ourselves.
“100” RA
“Continue?” Awesome phase of flight to question someone’s intentions
Briefing when we’re going to add xwind correction and what RA we’re going to flare at is all nonsense. It’s inbreeding from the Air Force. To watch more than one Captain get frustrated with me because I told him I didn’t know shows you just who is in your left seats.
FedEx will have another accident and it’s going to be due to “this isn’t what we briefed” so I’ll take control at the last second.
The DeBrief on the shutdown checklist. Just what I want to talk about at 0600 as the sun is coming up and all I want to do is get into limo and crawl into bed. Any flight that was damn near perfect and the captain wanted to sit there and waste time probably was most irritating. Also a dangerous thing on probation because what FO is going to bring up issues with a weak ass CA when he needs a good PEP report. It’s a terrible idea in the true interest of safety.
————————————————————
Vips collapsing as we’re trying to bid or open time goes live.
FCIFs about 93 year old retired military guys dying. Like it was breaking news. Just this past week some senior captains mom died and it was a flight ops memo
FCIFs of current pilots dying due to the vaccine and boosters stopped after it became obvious what was going on. 6 guys in a 3 month span all middle age and in good shape. Try and change my mind
FO First class medical required for domestic 2 person crew. Waste of pilots time and company reimbursement
Leaving work and have to go thru security. Such trust in your crewmembers on their way to the parking lot.
Dash cams in crew buses. More trust
Purple WIFI that employees aren’t allowed to use in all buildings
Having to scan employee badge to make a copy, or simply print in AOC, or simulator rooms. Again, trust.
Okta Verify, period.
New Bluetooth stair locks. Why? No other company has this much paranoia over security.
Let’s get our iPads out in the rain and snow to unlock a staircase. Brilliant.
Flight Ops manuals are a mess. Information greatly scattered. It’s a hunt for everything in iPad. No links for anything
Lavs that never get emptied. I love opening up an aircraft that has sat all weekend shut up with a full lav. I have yet to be on an airplane in a year where the bathroom wasnt a hold your breath escape room. To get it emptied the captain had to write it up
A picnic cooler that would get restocked once a day for drinks. Awesome coming out to an airplane with melted ice and warm diet cokes. “Hey can we get some fresh ice and a few new waters thrown in here?” “No we don’t do that at this station. Submit an insite to maybe make a change”
Coffee thermos from the late 70s. When are those cleaned?
INSITE. A website where you submit operational issues. The responses made for some good laughs.
MEM Sleep rooms that have blankets from Desert Storm. Pillows that smell like sponge.
There were signs that said we weren’t allowed to switch out the coffee containers or make popcorn in AOC. So you trust us with your aircraft around the world but can’t make a batch of popcorn ?
Bathrooms in MEM got “remodeled”
Consisted of a new glossy floor and a roller bag rack. The same urinal has leaked and overflowed for over 3 years now.
A nice jumpseat lounge that has the fluorescent lights on the highest intensity at 0300. Why?
A 777 LCA stopped me at 0400 in the cafe to tell me my tie was too loose around my collar. Priorities. If there was a hat policy here it would be great for those types. F15E probably
Airport standby? Something that airlines had in the 80s and 90s. Waste of time and money. Have a seperate call out time and problem is solved. 30 min, 90 min and 2 hour call out. You’d never need limos, 20 sleep rooms, or hotels ever again. When I suggested this to union they looked at me like I was a cowboy from the Wild West. Then again “that’s how we did it on the 7-2”
Getting put into “sub” Again, zero work rules with sections that are severely out of date.
R24 use to be R24. It’s now the open time filler. Oh wait “R16 long call is amazing for commuters now” - current NC member that commutes from GRR (brilliant negotiator) ignorant and stupid too.
Having to get released from reserve. I was just on duty for 13 hours, there’s nothing you can do with me but now I’m on hold for 10 mins to officially be “OFF”
System bids. They should be called decade bids because it might take that long to get a training slot. A system bid every year doesn’t benefit either side. Much too large and take too long to train out. There should be 3 vacancy bids per year not an annual entire system shuffle. That’s old 1990 TWA bidding stuff
Indoc was 9 long days that taught nothing about important things such as bidding, payroll, travel expenses, travel bank, vacation options, booking travel, banking, bidding for training, where to park, where to get a sleep room, here’s how to get updated uniform pieces , how to drop, trade etc. Instead it was 9 days of telling us the things we could be fired for. Many senior captains are still paranoid and scared of the company due to this culture and it’s pathetic. I almost forgot the “secret code” is so important to have on file incase you crash and die. That way the company will tell your family the details. Yep that’s really important guys, that code and bringing a gun to work beat into new hires daily. The best one was the LCA fired mid flight for having a gun from MEM - LAX onboard and security missed the item but upon landing was terminated. Believe she was here for 25 years. Company really takes care of their pilots as you can see.
Probation that lasts forever and PEPs that mean nothing. Once off probation you got a 50 min phone call from a retired guy reminding you what you can be fired for, AFTER listening to his naval career story
“PRO” sim instructors. Some were fantastic and laid back. Most have zero common sense and very little 121 experience.
Training grading. There’s a section that’s mandatory of what could be improved. Very little comments of how nice of a job a crew progresses through the course and more notes about how the student didn’t adjust their ruder pedals as part of the preflight flow. Praising, confidence and motivation from instructors isn’t in their AQP program.
The briefings for sims that lasted 2 hours prior and an hour after showed that the big picture was never a priority. Stump the student with FOMs quizzes was way more important than a perfectly flown single engine non precision. I won’t even get into how MDA/DA/DDAs were taught.
Required to wear a tie to my type ride at 05:00 on a Saturday morning…..Why?
MD11 fleet updates, messages, memos, and long drawn out training about approaches, flares, tail strikes, landings, de-rotations. This airplane was the easiest to land in all conditions and the emphasis put on this showed you the paranoia and gun shy attitude to landing a large wide body.
Another winter meltdown this January. FedEx simply doesn’t know how to handle it, plan, anticipate, make a decision, keep the fleet out of MEM for the love of god until weather is gone. Scheduling, DOs, all think they have the magic formula to make an ice event smooth and they make it 10 times worse. Simple decisions make their brain melt after 1/2 a shift.
MEM Multi million dollar state of the art de-ice pad but cant staff it and it handles 4 aircraft per hour now. This is acceptable to DOs and fleet managers as normal.
I had high hopes and expectations coming to purple, but man has it been disappointing and run poorly. I look forward to my next carrier with an immediate upgrade and a ton of common sense in their flight dept. it’s ok to laugh and have a good time at work too. Flying should be fun not a simulated trip into combat every night. Way too serious flying a MEM-CHA “mission” or “sortie”
When arriving separately to work don’t forget to say “I’ll meet you at the jet” instead of airport, ramp, airplane, stairs, ops etc. Guess “the jet” sounds cool from the military days.
Some (not all) fleet chief reaching out to pilots as soon as PRIA requests come across their desk. Asking where you are going or if you have a class date. Then reminding you that you can’t work for 2 air carriers at once. Actually you can. Trust me it’s done all the time. All they want to know is your end date so the bid packet won’t be affected for following month. You have no obligation to respond to this micro managing.
It’s been an interesting couple of years here. Grass was always greener before I came and didn’t enjoy much of it here. This place is changing fast and it’s not for the benefit of the pilot. The hedge funds & shareholders win in the end with the times we’re living in and it’s a bleak picture for flight ops. I truly hope all the friends I made here do well, get a great TA, and it thrives into the future.
But hey, at least I studied naval aerodynamics for a month AND spent $500 for interview prep to be “an ELITE FedEx pilot”
….oh yeah, almost forgot…don’t bring a gun to work.
Memphis. Need I say anymore? Great entertainment driving around if you aren’t afraid of being the true minority in all places of business and crime. Automatic gunfire is always interesting from the nearby projects at simulator building. Everyone local says Collierville, Olive Branch, and Cordova are the places to live. They are all dumps……and living 30 years behind the times.
Expense reports. Company Credit card used to stay at non contract hotels. Having to fight for every penny several months later. Fighting for a normal hotel charge, just think how stupid that sounds.
VP of flight ops, and the “new guy” from Atlas. Haven’t turned a wheel in 20 years and totally out of touch with reality. I didn’t think management could sink to a new low in this industry but now it has. LCA warned me about both of them being JV hacks and they were absolutely correct. The PSA memo was just an icing on the cake. Atlas leader will totally bring the Atlas playbook here for negotiations and massive cost savings. Another TA is atleast 18-20 months away from right now - March ‘24
BLG and 68 hours per month with a reduction to possibly 50 hours in the near future.
Hedge fund people joining Board of directors left and right should be an indication of what’s coming next 2-3 years
Scope language the company is seeking is dangerous and right around the corner. The company will break this rule anyway when they need their grand plan put in place in ‘24 for “Drive”
Incorrect wet lease payments to pilot group year after year after year. ALPA is even confused most of the time with whose eligible and when you were considered “activated”
No profit sharing. Making 2 billion per quarter. Not year, quarter. Number 17 on the Fortune 500 company
A terribly negotiated TA 1.0 from both sides. Very unprofessional and beyond cheap in all sections. This union and company don’t understand real time work rules that benefit both sides. As time goes on I never believed it, but now at times think ALPA is possibly paid off under the table. The negotiating committee would be a good stand up comedy show downtown after what I witnessed at the first roadshow in July.
757 chief pilot in late 2023 (mgmt) participating in group chats about TA 2.0 with many union reps. Such a true professional
ALPA Block rep 1. Bumps her own FedEx pilots off her jumpseat to make room for her offline husband. Such loyalty. That’s true love though. I hope she tries to catch a ride with me someday.
The lack of communication from company about anything going on in the business. It’s like they don’t even exist. Everything is a secret in every department.
“Meeting at the folder” to brief ? Why, when there’s 6 different briefings that will take place in the airplane before you move an inch. Then again the folder was a great place to find out what “type” of captain you’re paired with.
FO does every walk around. Even though mechanics do it as well at the same time. I have no idea how to program FMC for preflight “oh you don’t need to know any of the preflight aspects on the flight deck” is what some captains have told me
Let’s check every warning system on the airplane every flight. Nothing like a config warning being checked 21 times per week. Love hearing all the GPWS noises during preflight. Bus Tie checks on 757 as an example. First flight of the day checks is a term not used at FedEx
“Got your docs ?” …And if I didn’t what would I do at this point 10 mins prior to push anyway
Security briefings when there’s no jumpseaters is absurd.
767 CAs referring to jumpseaters as “could be hijackers” is an insult. (All 76 jump seats are in cockpit) I’ve heard it more than once.
767 and A300 captains that would say no if you asked to put your bags up front instead of in the back in the netting. Still scratching my head at why we couldn’t accommodate our own pilots
MD11 wrestling mats for rest areas. Great sleep
Water diapers. Need I say more. “That’s how it was when I was an FE back in 1992”
Overwater kit for W&B. Rafts are going to make that much of a difference? If it’s such a big deal why don’t all aircraft just have them installed ?
FOM briefings are from the 1980s. No one listens to any of this old non sense. I guess I didn’t share the “mental model” most flights.
CA reads/briefs the FO on the ATIS outloud ? I can read what came off the printer myself thank you very much
There is no common sense up until pushback with how much we brief and brief and talk about the simplest stuff. These briefings were “so important” most people referred to a briefing card or note checklist on iPad to make sure we covered all 39 items
Must take off times were mandatory briefs. Because IND-EWR with an on time departure is going to be such a factor for our day
It’s 89 degrees out and the cockpit is over 100. But don’t start that APU until 5 mins prior. Oh wait, there’s baby chicks/ducks onboard, start it 45 mins prior now. Never been more miserable and uncomfortable in an airplane than sitting in a FedEx cockpit. All fleets. Some captains have become sheep with this rule and don’t look out for everyone else onboard when it’s hot and humid
Paper fuel slips from 2001. At least I know that you really don’t need to turn them in because after IOE I didn’t and never heard boo about them
TOLD Cards. Unbelievable how much paper “needed to be present” entire flight. I threw a W&B in the trash once reaching cruise and the CA said “whoa whoa we need that, the FOM says so”
Performance briefing. I would say “K Indy”instead of “K I N D” and some guys would want me to say it again. This was an excellent indicator who I was sitting next to for the next few hours.
LTAET. It works about 5% of the time. The monthly reminders and LCA talking about it gets exhausting. Again, common sense item when you’re number 20 in line at JFK not number 3 going to 18R. The more its emphasized the less your crews will comply.
Can’t have ground and tower in COMM1. Departure freq has to be in standby entire time from gate to lift off in COMM1. No one can explain that one yet.
Below the line taking the runway. Unsafe as FO is heads down for entire time and it’s constant challenge and response
“Before TO checklist complete, runway 36L verified” doesn’t need to be said after you read back a takeoff clearance. It can be done anytime. Then again I’m sure navy guys not on a carrier are overwhelmed at an airport with more than 1 runway.
FO “has the airplane” but the CA is always advancing the thrust levers. Ok sure why not 🤔
Keep your hands on the thrust for climb and decent ? That’s an old 727 thing. The A/T do a much better job than any human 95% of the time
Making a change in the FMC yourself while climbing and descending while PF is the biggest no no. Autopilot on of course.
The airports that were considered “special airports” …nothing special about them other than short, and CAs anxiety about them were comical. Was rare that an FO got to land at these places. RNO, ROA, ONT, RIC, ELP, etc
The detail in briefing an arrival is absurd here. Both pilots are totally out of the picture as we’re going check check check check check. Sometime during a decent or runway change there are 5 mins where no one is flying the airplane. Period.
Vacating a flight level to ATC ? That’s only for a non radar environment in North American airspace. No other airline does anything remotely close to that or has an FOM carry over rule from the 1980s
Altitude verification. Let’s wait silently and point rather than just say the ALT ourselves.
“100” RA
“Continue?” Awesome phase of flight to question someone’s intentions
Briefing when we’re going to add xwind correction and what RA we’re going to flare at is all nonsense. It’s inbreeding from the Air Force. To watch more than one Captain get frustrated with me because I told him I didn’t know shows you just who is in your left seats.
FedEx will have another accident and it’s going to be due to “this isn’t what we briefed” so I’ll take control at the last second.
The DeBrief on the shutdown checklist. Just what I want to talk about at 0600 as the sun is coming up and all I want to do is get into limo and crawl into bed. Any flight that was damn near perfect and the captain wanted to sit there and waste time probably was most irritating. Also a dangerous thing on probation because what FO is going to bring up issues with a weak ass CA when he needs a good PEP report. It’s a terrible idea in the true interest of safety.
————————————————————
Vips collapsing as we’re trying to bid or open time goes live.
FCIFs about 93 year old retired military guys dying. Like it was breaking news. Just this past week some senior captains mom died and it was a flight ops memo
FCIFs of current pilots dying due to the vaccine and boosters stopped after it became obvious what was going on. 6 guys in a 3 month span all middle age and in good shape. Try and change my mind
FO First class medical required for domestic 2 person crew. Waste of pilots time and company reimbursement
Leaving work and have to go thru security. Such trust in your crewmembers on their way to the parking lot.
Dash cams in crew buses. More trust
Purple WIFI that employees aren’t allowed to use in all buildings
Having to scan employee badge to make a copy, or simply print in AOC, or simulator rooms. Again, trust.
Okta Verify, period.
New Bluetooth stair locks. Why? No other company has this much paranoia over security.
Let’s get our iPads out in the rain and snow to unlock a staircase. Brilliant.
Flight Ops manuals are a mess. Information greatly scattered. It’s a hunt for everything in iPad. No links for anything
Lavs that never get emptied. I love opening up an aircraft that has sat all weekend shut up with a full lav. I have yet to be on an airplane in a year where the bathroom wasnt a hold your breath escape room. To get it emptied the captain had to write it up
A picnic cooler that would get restocked once a day for drinks. Awesome coming out to an airplane with melted ice and warm diet cokes. “Hey can we get some fresh ice and a few new waters thrown in here?” “No we don’t do that at this station. Submit an insite to maybe make a change”
Coffee thermos from the late 70s. When are those cleaned?
INSITE. A website where you submit operational issues. The responses made for some good laughs.
MEM Sleep rooms that have blankets from Desert Storm. Pillows that smell like sponge.
There were signs that said we weren’t allowed to switch out the coffee containers or make popcorn in AOC. So you trust us with your aircraft around the world but can’t make a batch of popcorn ?
Bathrooms in MEM got “remodeled”
Consisted of a new glossy floor and a roller bag rack. The same urinal has leaked and overflowed for over 3 years now.
A nice jumpseat lounge that has the fluorescent lights on the highest intensity at 0300. Why?
A 777 LCA stopped me at 0400 in the cafe to tell me my tie was too loose around my collar. Priorities. If there was a hat policy here it would be great for those types. F15E probably
Airport standby? Something that airlines had in the 80s and 90s. Waste of time and money. Have a seperate call out time and problem is solved. 30 min, 90 min and 2 hour call out. You’d never need limos, 20 sleep rooms, or hotels ever again. When I suggested this to union they looked at me like I was a cowboy from the Wild West. Then again “that’s how we did it on the 7-2”
Getting put into “sub” Again, zero work rules with sections that are severely out of date.
R24 use to be R24. It’s now the open time filler. Oh wait “R16 long call is amazing for commuters now” - current NC member that commutes from GRR (brilliant negotiator) ignorant and stupid too.
Having to get released from reserve. I was just on duty for 13 hours, there’s nothing you can do with me but now I’m on hold for 10 mins to officially be “OFF”
System bids. They should be called decade bids because it might take that long to get a training slot. A system bid every year doesn’t benefit either side. Much too large and take too long to train out. There should be 3 vacancy bids per year not an annual entire system shuffle. That’s old 1990 TWA bidding stuff
Indoc was 9 long days that taught nothing about important things such as bidding, payroll, travel expenses, travel bank, vacation options, booking travel, banking, bidding for training, where to park, where to get a sleep room, here’s how to get updated uniform pieces , how to drop, trade etc. Instead it was 9 days of telling us the things we could be fired for. Many senior captains are still paranoid and scared of the company due to this culture and it’s pathetic. I almost forgot the “secret code” is so important to have on file incase you crash and die. That way the company will tell your family the details. Yep that’s really important guys, that code and bringing a gun to work beat into new hires daily. The best one was the LCA fired mid flight for having a gun from MEM - LAX onboard and security missed the item but upon landing was terminated. Believe she was here for 25 years. Company really takes care of their pilots as you can see.
Probation that lasts forever and PEPs that mean nothing. Once off probation you got a 50 min phone call from a retired guy reminding you what you can be fired for, AFTER listening to his naval career story
“PRO” sim instructors. Some were fantastic and laid back. Most have zero common sense and very little 121 experience.
Training grading. There’s a section that’s mandatory of what could be improved. Very little comments of how nice of a job a crew progresses through the course and more notes about how the student didn’t adjust their ruder pedals as part of the preflight flow. Praising, confidence and motivation from instructors isn’t in their AQP program.
The briefings for sims that lasted 2 hours prior and an hour after showed that the big picture was never a priority. Stump the student with FOMs quizzes was way more important than a perfectly flown single engine non precision. I won’t even get into how MDA/DA/DDAs were taught.
Required to wear a tie to my type ride at 05:00 on a Saturday morning…..Why?
MD11 fleet updates, messages, memos, and long drawn out training about approaches, flares, tail strikes, landings, de-rotations. This airplane was the easiest to land in all conditions and the emphasis put on this showed you the paranoia and gun shy attitude to landing a large wide body.
Another winter meltdown this January. FedEx simply doesn’t know how to handle it, plan, anticipate, make a decision, keep the fleet out of MEM for the love of god until weather is gone. Scheduling, DOs, all think they have the magic formula to make an ice event smooth and they make it 10 times worse. Simple decisions make their brain melt after 1/2 a shift.
MEM Multi million dollar state of the art de-ice pad but cant staff it and it handles 4 aircraft per hour now. This is acceptable to DOs and fleet managers as normal.
I had high hopes and expectations coming to purple, but man has it been disappointing and run poorly. I look forward to my next carrier with an immediate upgrade and a ton of common sense in their flight dept. it’s ok to laugh and have a good time at work too. Flying should be fun not a simulated trip into combat every night. Way too serious flying a MEM-CHA “mission” or “sortie”
When arriving separately to work don’t forget to say “I’ll meet you at the jet” instead of airport, ramp, airplane, stairs, ops etc. Guess “the jet” sounds cool from the military days.
Some (not all) fleet chief reaching out to pilots as soon as PRIA requests come across their desk. Asking where you are going or if you have a class date. Then reminding you that you can’t work for 2 air carriers at once. Actually you can. Trust me it’s done all the time. All they want to know is your end date so the bid packet won’t be affected for following month. You have no obligation to respond to this micro managing.
It’s been an interesting couple of years here. Grass was always greener before I came and didn’t enjoy much of it here. This place is changing fast and it’s not for the benefit of the pilot. The hedge funds & shareholders win in the end with the times we’re living in and it’s a bleak picture for flight ops. I truly hope all the friends I made here do well, get a great TA, and it thrives into the future.
But hey, at least I studied naval aerodynamics for a month AND spent $500 for interview prep to be “an ELITE FedEx pilot”
….oh yeah, almost forgot…don’t bring a gun to work.
man I am interested on where did you end up going to? I’m on the edge of leaving and don’t know where to go
04-16-2024 | 08:49 AM
#282
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,097
Likes: 0
This is where I wanted my nephew to end up flying. This is the place I had sold as the best place to be for over 15 years. Not anymore. Man, how quickly the course can turn 180º. It's not just that we are in negotiations, it is unfortunately much more than that. The reality has changed dramatically in the last 3 years, and the lack of long term vision in our corporate leadership is really concerning, i.e. the Town Hall.
I have another 16 to fly, but planning, hoping, on going way early, only because of that I am sticking it out here. But I would say anyone with more than 10-15 years of flying ahead should be concerned that our corporate vision only extends to an absolute max of about 3 months now. The culture which made this airline a decent place to fly, even with our sucka** schedules (about to suck even worse in 6 months), is gone, in the form of $billions in stock buybacks to the board and high execs, while simultaneously investing $0.0 back into the People of the now-defunct philosophy of PSP.
The immensely profitable corporation our senior guys and gals helped build, by following the lead of a super talented executive team, is being actively, rapidly faded (to use kind words). Sad to witness.
Last edited by CloudSailor; 04-16-2024 at 09:11 AM.
04-16-2024 | 10:46 AM
#283
Line Holder
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 277
Likes: 0
From: MD-11/C-17
I wasn't in Memphis in the 70/80/90s but imagine it was easier to recruit back then.
04-16-2024 | 11:45 AM
#284
Banned
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 1,244
Likes: 0
I hear you...
This is where I wanted my nephew to end up flying. This is the place I had sold as the best place to be for over 15 years. Not anymore. Man, how quickly the course can turn 180º. It's not just that we are in negotiations, it is unfortunately much more than that. The reality has changed dramatically in the last 3 years, and the lack of long term vision in our corporate leadership is really concerning, i.e. the Town Hall.
Sad to witness.
This is where I wanted my nephew to end up flying. This is the place I had sold as the best place to be for over 15 years. Not anymore. Man, how quickly the course can turn 180º. It's not just that we are in negotiations, it is unfortunately much more than that. The reality has changed dramatically in the last 3 years, and the lack of long term vision in our corporate leadership is really concerning, i.e. the Town Hall.
Sad to witness.
04-16-2024 | 12:53 PM
#285
Banned
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 674
Likes: 0
Whats sad is our pilot group can't go through one contract negotiation without saying FX is a sinking ship. Everything is roses at DL, UA right now but does anyone know the history of the pax carriers over the past 30 yrs, bankruptcy, layoffs, mergers. Guys wanted to be at FX while we were hiring and now its a S#@! show to be here? GMAFB.
04-16-2024 | 01:41 PM
#287
Line Holder
Joined: Feb 2024
Posts: 89
Likes: 0
Whats sad is our pilot group can't go through one contract negotiation without saying FX is a sinking ship. Everything is roses at DL, UA right now but does anyone know the history of the pax carriers over the past 30 yrs, bankruptcy, layoffs, mergers. Guys wanted to be at FX while we were hiring and now its a S#@! show to be here? GMAFB.
04-16-2024 | 05:46 PM
#288
Line Holder
Joined: Mar 2023
Posts: 65
Likes: 0
Whats sad is our pilot group can't go through one contract negotiation without saying FX is a sinking ship. Everything is roses at DL, UA right now but does anyone know the history of the pax carriers over the past 30 yrs, bankruptcy, layoffs, mergers. Guys wanted to be at FX while we were hiring and now its a S#@! show to be here? GMAFB.
So far us and Spirit are the only one’s talking about layoffs.
04-16-2024 | 10:48 PM
#289
On Reserve
Joined: Mar 2023
Posts: 83
Likes: 33
Yeah, but do they have free fruit baskets at their Town Halls? I don’t think so. Cheer up buddy! Good times are just around the corner. I have a good feeling about this. We have leverage and time is on our side.
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