Does anyone know how often calls go out for initial interviews (testing)? When were the last calls? Thanks in advance!

 

Beside pay, what makes flying for a cargo carrier better than a legacy pax carrier?

I'm new to the cargo threads, and have generally had my focus on DL. However, as I transition from active duty to a civilian career, I can't ignore the pay and general business model that seems less affected by economic downturns and rising fuel prices than the majors.

 

I’ve done both. I prefer cargo by a landslide. I’m sure there are plenty of guys who really would be unhappy flying cargo. So, cargo being “better” than legacy pax is really in the eye of the beholder.

You’ve hit the main points. Pay and stability. The stability has always been there. It just became way more appreciated over the last decade. After my furlough experience, stability is worth way more than pay in my house. The pay is great in comparison to the legacies – but only because they’ve been beat down. So, I would put pay in a temporary category (hopefully). If the airlines get healthy, pay should swing back in their direction.

Other things I like at Fedex over a legacy pax:

The schedules allow longer trips and more trips to be put together, resulting in bigger “chunks” of work and days off. As a commuter, I go to work twice a month, max. Commuting 4-5 times a month for 2-4 days of work at a time would drive me to move to my domicile (yes, even Memphis).

A wider variety of flying available at a much broader seniority level. I was flying international widebody trips within 2 years of getting hired and that was longer than many others had to wait.

No pax, No F/As, No drama.........No hats (for now )

 

.....+1

 

Pancake, you must live under a rock to not know the difference between flying for a legacy/pax carrier and a box carrier. Was this a funny joke to stir up more posting?

 

Maybe it was a legit question. Maybe the guy wants to know how, what goes on behind the cockpit door effects what goes on in front of it. Maybe guys like me that have spent most of our careers in fighters were wondering the same thing.

Do you have any first hand experience to share?

 

I Have Done Both. When the PAX airline was financially healthy life was good.
When things got bad financially things were not so good.

FDX has remained financially healthy for most of my career (knock on wood) as Past performance is No guarantee of future reward.

Both PAX and Cargo have their +'s & -s.

There are a lot of fly by night (excuse the pun) Freight outfits. Many of which aren't worth your time as they are usually temporary jobs at best and fly older often unsafe equipment.
I would avoid almost all of them unless you need the time experience as a stepping stone.

Unless you get lucky and get hired by FedEx or UPS, I wouldn't go the Cargo route, especially if you can get on with Delta, SWA , ALA or even UCAL.

If you do get an offer from FDX or UPS and maybe ATLAS it can be a solid career. (We have hired many Atlas pilots at FedEx)

The Biggest Negative to FDX or UPS is the Backside of Clock flying which you will most likely do as a Junior pilot on the list.

The Biggest Plus is more Stability (notice I didn't say guaranteed stability) and current Pay/benefits but that can change overnight (again excuse pun).
Look at UPS, they have Pilots on Furlough and FDX came close a couple years back, so no one is immune to down turns in the economy, even when the company is still profitable.

No passengers and Flight attendants to deal with. There is less hassle with Cargo in that department. When the plane is loaded, we leave. We don't wait for scheduled departure time if we are loaded and ready. With FDX or UPS you will get a Chance to see the world, often in one 14 day trip around the world.

No Pass/travel benefits on Cargo although those benefits from the PAX carriers aren't what they use to be, but I still miss them.

UPS and FDX have fewer Domiciles to pick from. Unless you are dying to live in Louisville, Memphis or Anchorage you have more to choose from with the PAX. I hope you like New York, Atlanta , Detroit , LA, San Francisco, Dallas or Washington DC.

There are other considerations but those are some biggies.

Bottom line and you will hear this a lot. Get an offer first and if you get lucky and have two or three offers, we can have a deeper discussion at that time.

Good luck

 

Most of my flying has been on the back side of the clock. No problem there.

For ease of interview responses, I've kept my apps to 1 cargo, 1 govt, and 1 fractional. Otherwise, I am pursuing the NTSB.

I just got off a DC to Sacramento flight and the whole crew was exhausted and really didnt care what was going on-and I don't blame them at all. A packed out A320 is not an enjoyable day for anyone unless it is full of boxes.

Time to get out the magic dice and roll........... C'mon FedEx!

 

Just want to make Clear that PAX Redeyes from the West Coast are no where near as the Back Side type flying you will do at FedEx or at UPS.

I previously flew Redeyes for the a PAX carrier in a former life.
They were hard, but no where near as demanding and hard on the Body as
a full week of Night Hub Turns.

I am not saying you can't adapt.

I agree with you. I think I would rather be on a A320 Full of Boxes than full of angry Passengers.

The crew of the UAL 777 in ANC and the 757-300 in LAX must have hated that.

 

For those of you looking to Fedex in particular or freight in general. He's some observations from a 54 year who's been doing this a couple of years.

Domestic hub turns.

This applies manly to the start Monday, end weekend night stuff. First night of flying (typically, Monday night/Tuesday morning) is the hardest. No one is acclimated even though you had a legal "rest" before the flight. An extended duty day (due to wx or system problem) would make this a bad start to the week. Things slowly improve as the week goes on.
When you can hold day hub turns you will see a whole different crowd of pilot. Better rested but you get no meaningful layover. You will get to know the ops area in Memphis because of the very long hub turn. Join the gym, you'll have time and may even fit in an afternoon siesta!

International.

Memphis based. Lots off variety, but I'll concentrate on the long stuff because we have a lot and commuters prefer them.
A round the world Westbound. Easier than Eastbound. Recovery for my 54 year old bones, is three days minimum. When younger was easier. YMMV.
Eastbound around the world. Harder than Westbound, enough said.
Slingshot. Go east till you hit China than reverse course. Not sure what to make of this type sequence (from a jet lag/sleep standpoint). Good news: if you like Europe, you get it twice in the same trip!

If you get Anchorage based and you live there, you'll have a more civilized start to your Asian trip. You start in the morning, fly in daylight and arrival the day after you left. All bets are off after that for rest/jet lag.

Thats it in a nutshell. lots of other stuff. Look around, others have written or will write in the future. Just ask!l