Internals are those already working for the company in a capacity other than line pilot, e.g professional instructors and corporate pilots.

Or even more mundane jobs. My new hire class was mostly internals. We had one ex-Navy guy who worked as a courier for a year, and my sim partner flew checks in Alaska and worked part time on the ANC ramp before getting on the seniority list. I was a professional sim instructor, as were 6 others in the class (first class after original CBA went into effect.). Only 3 out of 12 were off the street.

I was also ex-Navy and an internal hire as well - 18 months (8/94-2/96) throwing boxes and driving a tug. Leaving active duty in late '93 was NOT great for getting hired at a major. ;)

In my new hire class of 30, we had 6-7 internal hires, plus a couple guys that did internships at FedEx way back in the day (may not have necessarily got them the interview, but it sure gave them really low emp #s :D). A guy hired a couple classes ahead of me had 17yrs at FedEx when he came to the line, working mostly in GOC.

That explains a lot.:)

Internal hires have slowly watched their compensation erode as they transition to a line holder. I was in one of the group's who did not get credit for vacation longevity as a pro. The groups that went to the line before me started as a new hire with accrued vacation longevity from date of hire with the company. That benefit was traded away for something in the contract negotiations. At least I got to keep my three years as a pro for retirement multipliers. The guys transitioning now start at zero but they do get to keep their DC plan.

Oh that it were so.

I think it was more like given away.


That was the first (technically first) CBA. We can do much better now.





.

Short chat with a bro who put it best….why would I leave my 16 % pension and seniority to come to a company that is going to offer me a 16% pension and less seniority?

FedEx will never have a problem hiring pilots. In this environment, they will have a challenge keeping all of them. Even if we keep our full A plan (which I am confident we will. It is a strike issue…) the fact the company has telegraphed a desire to end it will make coming here less attractive and staying here less lucrative to those with less than 3-4 years on the property. Our group has helped about 700 pilots get hired here. There have been at least 20 in the last year that have approached me about helping them go other places. Its not a huge number statically, but anecdotally is captures a lot of the mood I am seeing. Last week in Corpus Christi I asked a room full of airline wannabes which airline was their first choice….airline by airline. Not a pilot put their hands in the air when I asked "FedEx?" Its sad, because five years ago we were more than 50% of the guys first choice.

Heard a rumor that we have lost 30+ pilots already....

But, to some bean counter MBA, is that necessarily a bad thing? Training new guys costs, but last I heard those costs were fixed.:rolleyes: As long as they can replace the trickle going out and put new guys in the cheap seats at lower longevity pay rates, why would they care (from a simple numbers standpoint). Just wondering.

Did a new hire class start today?

Cool Navy guy, right? ;)

Yes.......

Remember when new hire classes were a big deal? The chief pilot and union reps would come by and greet each new class. Both couldn't wait to post the names of the latest additions complete with photos and the caboose in a train hat. It seemed like the company and union would race to get that news out. Now we get an anonymous yes on APC.

Shhhh...

Hiring means your company needs pilots

There's nothing to see here

Please go back to looking for extra trips to pick up in OT, advance volunteer, calculating your max vacation buy back and keeping your kids off the home phone in case a scheduler is trying to draft you!

Don't get distracted by pretty pictures of smiling new hires in suits

Focus man!

Welcome!
 

Welcome aboard!

Update
 

Our first pilot New Hire class in over 19 months was welcomed to Flt Ops on 10 NOV. The class was made up of seven pilots internal to FedEx, who were previously working at Corporate Aviation, Flight Training and Flight Management. We have an additional 14 internal applicants, who have successfully completed the testing and interview process and are in queue for future classes. We have received approval to hire 200 pilots next year. The successful internal applicants will be the next pilots hired, following that, we will begin to hire from the street.
Our plan is to place all new hires into the B757 FO crew position. We do not have firm dates for our future classes as we await the results of the current posting and the subsequent training letter. Once those are completed, we will be able to identify 57 FO training slots for our future new hire pilots and plan our next classes.

No preferential treatment, but get to keep that employee number! Although I dunno how low it will look with how they jumped with the millionth employee number.

I always had to do a double take when some F/Os had lower numbers than Captains when closing out flightplans though :D

Albie, While I appreciate your perspective on most things, I do not concur with this assessment that FedEx is no longer the "place to be" because dudes in the training command don't raise their hand. What has happened is that people have come to terms with the fact that the barriers to entry, first and foremost a competitive college degree, takes them out of the running almost immediately at FedEx and also Southwest who is another Pilot Credentials airline. Therefore most don't get their hopes up about getting a call and probably won't raise their hand when asked if it's their first choice unless they have the degree or they are a pointy nose driver. The reality is that if FedEx called the vast majority of unemployed (and many employed) commercial pilots would run to the interview and take the first available class date. I guarantee that NOBODY would use the FedEx interview as "practice" for a legacy airline interview. The game has not changed that dramatically, nor will it for anyone with average intelligence in this industry post 9-11.

Pilots have short term memory. In 2008 United hired their first pilots in nine years and things were "looking up" in the industry. All 150-200 of them were furloughed within a year and a half of their hire date. Boo ya. The hiring has ramped up at the legacies again so people thing everything will be peaches and ice cream forever.

The fact FedEx is in heated contract negotiations doesn't matter either. Pay is not going down when it's all over, and the pilots are not going to cave on all this nonsense presented by the company when they're making record profits.

I can take a night flight here and a night flight there for job security, vacation, work rules, deadhead bank, and the convenience of flying boxes that don't complain. It may take a degree from Harvard to pull it off now, but the company is in a position to act that way. They really don't care if everyone else is hiring. They will get their preferred guys either way.

BAM!

Any chance you good gentlemen at Fedex are starting to consider us overseas guys yet (out of US for a few years)? Had heard possibly with your new mail contract it might happen but haven't heard anything definitive yet.

My guess is no, but thought I'd ask.

Thanks guys and fly safe out there!

Kap

Birdeater:

All good points that you make and I think you have it well thought out for the most part. I quote the lines above because it perfectly encapsulates what I think is the problem at FedEx and WHY we aren't now everyone's first choice. In a nutshell it is HUBRIS and nothing more.

Your lines above:

1 is correct because our current leadership throughout flight ops is so full of their own kool aid that it is inconceivable to them that people wouldn't want to come here. Of course we don't have to care if everyone else is hiring, everyone wants or would want to come here.

2 is incorrect but has yet to be shown because we haven't really started beating the bushes yet. They will not get their "preferred" guys because they won't know any better, but will convince themselves that the guys they get are the guys they want. Not necessarily. The preferred guys that they want are actually those that they have right now. It should be glaringly obvious that there may be a problem, but the myopia within the flight ops management doesn't allow for the recognition that there could be an issue when guys begin either to leave in bigger numbers or the hiring pool isn't as robust. As more and more junior guys take a look around and see the options that are out there not painted purple, MAYBE it'll get someone's attention, but I suspect will be blown off as insignificant if they have onesies and twosies leaving. The power of the knowledge that there is no better place than Purple and how anyone could think to leave is so prevalent here, that I believe it puts us in a tough spot and possibly weakens us. There isn't the drive to either improve or care to notice opportunities for betterment. Guys vote with their feet. No amount of BZs or barbecues or cookies in the hub are going to make it someplace that guys feel like they are cared for as valued members for what they bring to the table and do every day and night to make this operation all that it is.

My opinion only, is that we are basically in 1998 all over again and I think Albie is correct.

WM

Leadership - the new line up
 

BM has resigned - or been reassigned, however, he did tell Mr Jetflyer that he doesn't know what he is going to do. I'm sure he has something lined up. But, they never really go away.

JP is supposedly coming out to Asia to replace DJ. My guess is that KIX is going to be ramped up big time and JP is the company man to make sure sure that happens. He sold his soul to Fred long ago and this is a perfect opportunity to show "he can make it happen".

DJ and RF are the names in the running to replace BM. My money is on RF. It is just a short move up and not to hard to step up being as he is the number two right now.

I'm still looking for the leadership? Don't see it in these names.(now as to leadership at Poplar and Kirby- that is another thread best left to others.)

But as to hiring - I don't think we are the 1st choice now. Maybe a second, and definitely not a practice interview. Time will tell.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS. ENJOY YOUR DAYS OFF.

AND FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT SOLD YOUR VACATION AND ARE DRAFTING? YOUR KIDDING? REALLY?

Everything is relative. Seniority is much more important to quality of life at FDX than elsewhere for QOL. We're I recommending to a friend, my advice would be if you are willing to live in Memphis FDX would be as good a job as any other, but you will be sitting reserve in the middle of the night for a long time.

+1 & +1

Unfortunately, based on my conversations with at least 7 highly qualified mil guys transitioning right now, I think WM & Albie are correct

...Timing?

Did I miss an FCIF or Fedex News Update on our SCP??

So by all appearances, the "hiring" is mostly internal and minimal off the street. This "hiring" could be categorized as re-assignments of bodies already at the company into pilot jobs.

Will FDX ever see 300-500 a year Pilot hiring ? the kind that impacts the resume stack ?

They still have a bunch of pros to hire.

Then they have those related to management.

Then they have legacy hires.

I predict off the street hiring, if you can call it that, in the Summer.

By off the street I mean those international glass guys perfect for our MD-11 program. You know, F-18 guys who fly off the boat in the Indian Ocean.

WM, Until FedEx stops seeing the 13,000 resumes for 200 spots, and those 200 spots aren't ivy league/service academy/ace of the base types, this will continue. Hubris schmoobris!

:rolleyes: GMAB.... your axe sharp yet?

Practice interview? No, especially if it's the only interview.

But, based on EXPECTED growth and QOL versus other options, if a person has two or more interviews/job offers, I bet FedEx won't be the first choice.

For now...

Ha! Alright. I'll give you all that. I'd peg you for a management type with the Hubris schmoobris comment---only one of our "leaders" would say that. :D

^^^^^^Hilarious!

Looks like there might be some vacancies in the Kong.....

Subject to change of course!:D

Right seat CGN is far from full on practice bid 1 too....

200 new hires authorized. 20 plus internals. 30-40 FDA slots. That means 140-150 new hires to MEM over the next year.

FYI….Delta is hiring 135/month in Jan and Feb.

Its a changing ballgame….

Why would you want to go to Delta when you can fly into Memphis and hang out with your buds until 3am then fly two more legs to watch the sun come up? And if your really lucky you could be the first airplane to land 6am after an all night ice storm and report the braking action for the pax guys about to takeoff.

Any idea how those numbers break down as percentage of crew force. In my mind that would be more meaningful looking at career progression given FedEx's relatively small crew force.

12k pilots, we have 4k. Multiply x 3 as a wag.

What I find most interested is that 10 years ago, after a short spell a junior pilot here could perhaps do international on an MD11 out of Anchorage, or hold B reserve on the 727 right seat or DC-10 SO seat, fly A reserve on the 'bus or 727, or hold days and become a 727 SO LCA.

Right now, I see riding the 757 or CGN on A reserve…for a while. The streamlining of aircraft here has eliminated some of the pockets and niches where a guy could hide out and try to carve out a good Q of Life if he was not a hub turn machine. (Some like 'em, some don't. ) I know FedEx is an overnight delivery company and if you cannot stomach some back side of the clock ops you probably shouldn't be here. However, its also a fact many of us have been here a while and do not regularly do hub turns. Any new hires showing up better be ready for the old 727 slave ship type lines, because the other options we once had aren't as readily available.

I would not worry about percentages as much as "what does a bottom 5% guy's life at Delta look like? What does a bottom 5% guy's life look like at FedEx?" Pros and cons to both but in 2004 if you didn't like hub turns you could sneak your way out of them on the -10, -11 , or getting senior as a SO. These days you better be ready for that "traditional" FedEx flying, as I think you will be doing it for a few years….

You forgot eating popcorn and drinking coffee...............@ 0200.......yum:p

I wish I could hold A-reserve here in CGN. Usually goes top 50%. I keep getting stuck having to fly...:eek:

Im obviously not a candidate. Over 12,000 hours. 8000 hours PIC Part 121. Typed on A310, B744, A320 (current left seat), check airman, APD, AQP developer. Lake house in PikWik. ....sorry ..."you're not qualified".