FYI...Delta hired 1246 since Jan 2014.

They have PBS (boo) and no A plan (boo), but they do have a 16-18% DC plan, lots of growth, bases in SEA, LAX, SLC, JFK, BOS, ATL, DTW, and MSP. They have 12 hour long call reserve. Their salaries pretty much match ours, but greenslips (and they are plentiful) pay 200%. Some 7-8 year FOs are making 300k, while some of our 15 year WB captains cannot get a high five year while junior.

Yeah yeah yeah...they furloughed in the early 90s (200 pilots) and after 9/11. They lost their pensions.

But...ask yourself if you were a recruiter in line representing our company. What are you main selling points?
--Stability! (Pilot--But Fred Smith is old, and after him, who know...)
--Salary! (Pilot--Hey...my Delta buddy showed me his W-2. My 757 FO friend at FedEx did too. They were very similar, or even favored Delta)
--Location! (Pilot--Uh...you mean I can wait another year for class if I don't go to Hong Kong, but Delta will start me in Atlanta and I can be skiing on reserve in SLC in eight months? While I am still waiting for YOUR call?)
--Layovers. (Pilot--Well...damn...you guys DO see some cool places and still have some nice layovers. How long until I'm senior enough to hold them?)
--Pilots (Yeah...go got some great people at FedEx...you really do...)
--An A fund (...but my friends here say your negotiators don't want ME to have one, and you want to freeze theirs!)
--Memphis! BBQ. Muggings. Racial tension. Car thieves. Music. Did I mention BBQ? Uh..and we need you ONE HOUR from the democrat lot on reserve. (Pilot--Sounds..uh...great!)
--Advancement! We will hire 200 a year from now on (until the bean counters say stop). That means in another 18-24 months you might be off reserve in Memphis. Maybe. You do know you will advance sooner in Hong Kong, right? (Pilot--Okay, let me break out my calculator....)


Now put on your Delta recruiter hat:
Salary--industry leading for pax and passing FedEx in 2016....
Retirement plan--not as lucrative as FedEx but 100% yours the day we deposit it...
Bases--Pick one. You can hold it in less than 2 years. About 70-80% of your reserve will be long call so you can move out to the 'burbs if you want. 12 hour callout. "Reasonable" is for short call, which typically means 2 hours or less. There are a lot of places you can live 2 hours of from our hubs.
Hiring--We forecast another 1200-1400 this year too.
Non reving?--Yeah...you gotta watch the loads...but if you are adventurous you can see the world on your day's off with your family. Take a credit card and a sense of humor--you will need both--but you will have some fun too.

What's my point? Just about the time we have tweaked out hiring to make sure we only get the "best" pilots out there, there has been a sea change. Dr Hoffman's A team...and some of his rejects...are running to other places in droves. We are going to be playing catch up.

Why drop the 1000 PIC? The same reason SWA just dropped the type rating requirement: You are going to be picking up the scraps Delta, United, and American leave you.

The is was absolutely, positively the place to be hired in 1992, 1996, and in my case 2002. I have loved it...warts and all. Why anyone would come here in 2015 is beyond me if they had options at Delta. Stability is attractive at FedEx, but our growth is quite modest the last decade. Our management is attacking our benefits and reminding us constantly how "lucky" we are to be here, while they refuse to inflation adjust a pension that was set in the 1990s. In 2015 I'd take a 16% DC, daylight flying, domicile of choice, and non-rev ability over an operation that seems hell-bent on squeezing more and more out of fewer and fewer pilots.

A new contract--and a climate change--could fix all this. We have the potential to be a simply incredible place to work. It has been for me, but I've got 10-15 years left. I can coast through that. A guy with 20-35 years ahead needs to be really, really careful.

 

Heretic!

Cue the older generation telling you that you're crazy in 3... 2... 1...

 

A “growth strategy” is an objective of every airline. Obviously, a business isn’t going to force growth at the expense of costing/losing money, but the statement above is self-evident. Be that as it may, an airline’s business plan (any airline) is NOT to ensure their company has the most qualified applicants on file. Rather, the aforementioned (recruitment ability) is a byproduct of a successful business that also bequeaths much of its success back to the employees.

There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind if FedEx were to announce that projected demand require they double their fleet over the next 5 years that we would see a spiked “interest” in FedEx. I believe this even if FedEx’s current PWA extended another 4-years. Likewise, if FedEx announced plans to furlough 1000 pilots on December 31st, but needed to hire 200 before the inevitable fallout – recruitment ability would suffer EVEN if a leading industry contract were awarded in every single section.

Point: FedEx’s ability to recruit top applicants isn’t entirely reflective of its PWA.

We are permitted to feel disappointment now that FedEx has been surpassed by a couple of carriers in a few sections; that is called “Conspicuous Consumption”. However, I don’t think we should feel as though we can somehow leverage a better PWA by inferring FedEx could be forced to recruit inept pilots without significant enhancements to the contract. That’s complete conjecture and we know it. I openly submit nobody has suggested that, but I think our interests would be better served if we see things as they are. I hope we don’t collectively try and invent reasons to be disappointed, put energies into worthless bargaining chips, or seek leverage that has no traction. We know who we are and we know what we do. This too is self-evident. Keep the swagger, but we don’t to be haughty in the process.

FedEx is an outstanding place to work – period.

We will see an enhanced contract in the eye of the pilot; this is certain. These enhancements won’t be a result of FDX looking for a way to recruit pilots, because WE deserve them, or because we are the best. If any of those were the basis behind a richer PWA, we would not be paying our ALPA negotiating team for their services.

At the end of the day, contractual gains will be leveraged by a group of professionals that ensures FedEx’s success as well as ours. It’s nothing personal, it’s just business.

 

Sometimes……I think you Missed Albie's Point Completely

Yes if FDX somehow bought 100 New "Growth" airplanes, not replacements, yes Guys would apply here in Droves because of Upgrade potential.

Growth is cyclical at All airlines. The key is to get on with a Stable Airline (read Long term Career potential) at the front end of a hiring wave. That doesn't look likely here.

Much of that is Luck. FedEx had great growth in the 80's, 90's and early 2000's. Maybe 200 pilots will be hired here in the next 16 months, Maybe.

This isn't the same Company that I was hired at. Yes I like my Job, Yes I make pretty Fair coin.

But a new guy just sating will not have the same opportunities here as I did or The Ghost of Christmas Past.

Pilot Management here has change and not for the Better. Senior Management is looking for ways to outsource our Jobs.

Belly Freight, Wet leases, and in the distant future I expect Single Pilot Monitored and eventually drones.

Airline Jobs are all a Crap shoot, but why would a New Pilot make FDX his 1st choice unless he Loves MEM, Night Hub turns, muggers, Murderers and yes BBQ, when he/she can live and fly out of a city with much more to offer.

 

Not very many posts here on APC? Which cubicle do you work in? Do you get a big bonus is we end up with a crappy contract?

 

I don’t believe Albie’s point was missed on me, and I certainly hope it was not. Regardless, thank you for letting me know that it appears as though it was. Perhaps putting those comments beneath his made it appear as though I was disagreeing or debating him in some fashion. That certainly was not my intent. Again, thanks.

As an aside, Albie’s point (in his own words) is as follows:

-- “Just about the time we have tweaked out hiring to make sure we only get the "best" pilots out there, there has been a sea change. Dr Hoffman's A team...and some of his rejects...are running to other places in droves. We are going to be playing catch up.” --

Recently, many references have been made to both the contract and recruitment in this thread. The fact is FedEx is not hiring. As a result, I would not expect a lot of “recruits” and I see no benefit to tying the "contract" and "recruitment" together. At least not at this point in the game.

 

Well as they say, it's personal to me!! My pay has not increased in several years, but it sure costs a whole lot more for stuff. My take home after taxes with over ten years here is just slightly more than my active duty take home was.

When my Chief Pilot sits across the table from the Union and argues that the pilots do not need an improvement, it hard not to take that personal.

When my MD11 fleet captain is flying FO draft trips yesterday, that's personal.

When three LCAs flew draft FO trips yesterday, that's personal.

The company is saving about 8.5 Million every month they don't pay us our lost 10% cost of living increases for the last three Februarys. That's over $2000 avg per month of pay raises we did not get. That's personal.

Choosing to close ANC would be business not personal. Choosing not to compensate us is nothing but personal.

 

I have a door so I wouldn't call it a cubicle. Some bonuses are better than others, but my working agreement is up for renual. Maybe I'll get what I'm asking for as no one else is applying (guys at DAL doing the SAME job make more).

 

This fact is not under dispute and I'm not trying to sound cold. If you can't help but take it personally, or if you simply desire to do so, that is fine. Just know doing so won't help matters in terms of winning the gains we all desire.

 

I enjoyed the very nicely written rebuttal. Thank you for avoiding APC nastiness.

Yes, FedEx Express is an outstanding place to work. But the unspoken caveat is "if you've already achieved a certain level of seniority". I'm sorry but like 80-90% of us you look at your own past experience, and the world as it HAS been during that time, to project what others should experience if they get hired today.

I think that hidden bias has created an unreasonable expectation on your part.