My name is [company shill] and I am running for MEC Chair because the direction this MEC is taking us continues to embarrass us as pilot group and sow disunity in ways that sabotages our ability to complete a contract for the indefinite future. To put it simply, we are sacrificing, on average, over $12,000 per pilot/month to watch high school level antics and delusional missives from our MEC proclaiming unity and leverage in negotiations, neither of which exist. While they delay any resolution and continue to bicker, the company will benefit from the windfall to allow for stock buy backs and modernization at our expense. Just as importantly, they buy time to leverage new technologies and evolving supply chain dynamics which allow them to shrink reliance on aircraft to meet their needs. If you are wholesale bought in to the blather you hear from the current MEC, then you don't need to read further, but if you think (just maybe) this continued buffoonery puts your livelihood at risk, then read on.

• The continuous drama and churn of recalls has now cost us $100,000 on average per pilot in just eight months with little to show except a glimmer of hope from this MEC that we can get a TA in ONLY eight more months...and will cost us another $100,000 per pilot. Given that we have effectively withdrawn from negotiations, contrary to all normal NMB procedures and against the recommendation of even ALPA national, this end of year estimate for a contract is almost certainly a fantasy they want you to believe so we can all join them on this fool's errand.
• There is a less than ZERO chance the NMB will release us given that the MEC has effectively cut short any efforts to close a contract in good faith. The reality is, under Railway Labor, unlike the UAW or UPS drivers' contracts, our contract exists indefinitely, so as this drags on for years or longer, it benefits only the company, not the pilots.

• "Yes, but won't investors and customers get skittish and run if we show up on Wall| Street?" No, they will not. Did anyone notice that when we turned down the TA the stock price immediately popped up? Institutional investors and high-volume customers are sophisticated enough to know these MEC efforts are fruitless at this point. They will appropriately see it as nothing more than a temper tantrum which only ensures continued operations at lower labor costs allowing for even more buy-backs, recapitalization, and modernization. In other words, we're self-funding our own demise and shareholder profit, the company is smart enough to take advantage where they have it.
• As for this idea that somehow America will realize how profitable FedEx is and rally to defend the pilot group, you might first consider that the median average income for Americans is ballpark $60,000 a year while our TA on the table brings our total compensation (as valued by ALPA) at about $550,000 a year per pilot. So good luck with that; you might try this faulty reasoning on a neighbor or even a random person in a grocery store before we count on it to rally the nation behind us. If you're still not convinced, note that Apple had a NET income of almost $1008 (with a B) in 2023 and I did not see the country rise up demanding higher wages for Apple employees, or even for cheaper iPhones.

• That brings us to our so-called LEVERAGE this MEC keeps discussing. We have almost none. We have too many pilots, our largest Asian customer, China, is experiencing significant economic and political challenges, FEDEX is using technology to become more efficient as they are switching from air to ground movement whenever possible to lower costs. As much as we want to believe it, we simply do not have the leverage that allows us to show the NMB, the Biden Administration, or the public that a contract valued at over 25% more than Delta's new contract is NOT ENOUGH. Once more, if you review the last year of FEDEX financials, you will find that as flying block hours went down, their profits went up.

• Going forward, the MD-11 will retire as fast as they can train the pilots, then the 757 and the Bus to follow. We are a 5500-pilot company that could soon have only two fleet types and a 3500-4000 pilot requirement. Nothing in our current contract would preclude any of those events from taking place...time and resources (provided graciously by us are to the benefit of the company as they look 10 years down the road.

Before I list my resume I will end with my thoughts on any request for release from negotiations. I believe that request must first be credible (this one was not), and we must know we have a unified pilot group fighting unfair labor negotiations. Anything less leaves us in a diminished negotiating position. As much as I want to earn more money, simply demanding added value to a contract proposal that already exceeds others by 25% (as scored by ALPA), will get us nowhere absent some other nonexistent leverage. I support a new TA which emphasizes different things dependent upon priorities of the pilot majority. If I am elected, we would take a new strike vote to show unity at the appropriate time and never picket or request release from negotiations for an issue that will damage the credibility of the pilot group in the eyes of the NMB, investors, customers, or the FedEx corporate negotiating team.

Resume: I'm 56, hired in 2002 at FedEx after 18 months at US Air, and currently a Memphis based (commuting) 777 FO. I am also retired Air Force, and during my extended time on military leave, I held several staff and command positions, to include the Air National Guard Readiness Center with a staff of over 2000 and a $10B appropriation to support all 107,000 ANG members nationwide. I readily admit that I don't have ALPA experience, I'm not in the club, and I'm not someone looking to climb the ranks to lofty levels of influence in ALPA or the company....'ve already achieved my professional, family, and financial aspirations as I approach my second retirement.

But I also believe I have the skills necessary to push back on the disruptive actions of this MEC while ensuring we get an industry-leading, fair contract from FEDEX and protect a long-term profitable future for you and your families.

I have absolutely no illusion that I will receive the support of this MEC to be your chair, but if anything I said resonates with you, then you should be asking your reps what their plan is when their current efforts continue to fall flat. If you get no answer, then continuing to support the MEC and their calls for public demonstrations of unity is folly and serves no purpose but to prolong the chaos that finds us where we are today. If you're not ready to ask the tough questions now, you might keep them in mind for a year or two down the line when we're in exactly the same place we are today, and you're another couple/few hundred grand down due to all the drama without results. Thank you for your time.

To a better future,

F/O Company Shill