MaydayMark

Both the MD-11 and MD-10 trip are in the same bid pack. Many (most?) of the MD-10 trips are domestic. You can bid any lines that you want. While you're junior that will probably mean bidding many lines in the order you'd like to fly them in and you'll probably end up getting a Reserve line anyway.

While on Reserve you're eligible to be assigned to ANY MD-11 trip.

If you'd prefer to fly domestic only that might be easy as the International trip pay a small premium and seem to go to senior guys. I haven't heard of very many junior guys griping about getting assigned an International line!*?

skypine27

Yes.
No.
No
What?

samc

First, thanks for all the good info in this thread.

I'm an applicant and I'm patiently waiting at a regional. I'm quite sure anything at FedEx is a QoL upgrade so the prospect is very exciting.

Can anyone shed light on how many new hires are being based in CGN or HKG?

I'm guessing DEN trips/overnights go pretty senior on any equipment. Can anyone describe the structure of DEN trips/overnights? I'd be content waiting several years before overnighting at home given the flexibility in flying at FedEx. I'm just curious.

FDXLAG

Look at the jumpseats out of and into Denver and you will get a pretty good idea.

airlinepilotguy

What I meant by an example of a trip was i.e. MEM-PHX-IND... That's not a real trip but that's what I meant by an example of one.

FDXLAG

Domestic Pairings

Any leg less than 3.5 hours will generally be one leg in, 2-4 hour turn, one leg out. The MD because of its higher Mach will occasionally due a West Coast out and back from Memphis. If the leg is longer than 5 hours generally you will get 24 to 36 hours off to fly the other leg home. A west coast pairing might involve a long leg to Indy or MEM and a short leg to the east coast. If you are on Indy (or AFW, EWR, OAK, LAX to a lesser extent) turns it will likely be a weeklong pairing with 4 iterations. Most of our MEM trips end when you hit MEM but each day looks the same with 5 turns in a week.

It is possible to do 2 short legs into a hub, if so it will be generally one leg out. It is also possible to do an out and back of one or two legs out of MEM.

Adlerdriver

Good guess. Yes, you will most likely wait MANY years to actually overnight. Most likely you will be "over-daying" if you get them.

A300, MD-11, 757 and IND 767 all have trips to DEN. A300 is exclusively day flying and the others have a mix of day lines and night lines.

A300 trips revolve around a 1530L MEM departure, one leg to DEN, layover 24:30 and leave ~1830L, one leg back to MEM. Some trips deadhead to DEN, layover and fly the return flight, others fly out, layover and DH back. There aren't any pure DEN lines on the Bus. There was a guy with under 5 years of seniority who got a Jul day line with sporadic DEN trips. Possibly a summer anomaly.

MD11 does days and nights. Day trip is a similar departure to the A300 except, it comes back the next morning after a ~13 hour layover. The night flying is 0330L MEM launch, one leg to DEN, 0440L arrival. 15 hour layover. Back at the airport at ~2000L, one leg back to MEM arriving ~0030L. Again, there are also iterations with either front or back deadheads to position for either flight. No pure DEN line here either, but those with regular DEN mix in go to 12-16 years+ seniority, days and nights.

IND 767 and MEM 757 have the most "homogenous" lines with a continuous week of DEN layovers. There are also scattered DEN trips in other less stable lines (i.e. junior lines) mostly in the 757. IND is a more senior base and has much less DEN flying than the 757 in MEM, so 757 would give you the best shot at eventually holding some DEN.

IND has trips that takeoff at 1630L, one leg to DEN, arrive ~1700L. 13 hour layover and report back in the morning at 0630L. One leg back to MEM, arriving at ~1200L. There's also a trip with a 50 hour layover from Saturday night to Monday night (one leg out, one leg back).

IND night trips are a 0430L takeoff, ~0500L arrival. 15 hour layover, report back to the airport at ~2030L. One leg back to IND, ~0145L landing. Most DEN stuff in IND seems to be going to 12+ year guys. One 5-6 year guy got some night DEN flying in July.

MEM 757 has a double deadhead trip. DH to DEN Monday morning and report that night at 2045L. So, obviously, if you live in DEN you stay home and drive in to make that report time. Then it's a 2145L takeoff to AFW, arrive 0030L, sit for 3 hours and fly back. Arrive DEN 0415L, 16 hour layover (which is on the long side for a day layover). Report back again that night 2045L and repeat all week. Last duty is the inbound flight Friday morning arriving at 0415L, then you're supposed to DH out Friday night. So, you go home and you're done until the next Monday night (10 days later) when you do the same thing. The July line had 3 trips like that split by 10 days off between them. There were also a couple of lines with just one of those week trips mixed with weeks in other cities. The pure DEN line went to an FO who has at least 16 years of seniority. The other two guys were over 10 and 12 years.

Another 757 trip scattered through several lines is a 0230L departure from MEM, one leg to DEN arriving at 0400L. 24 hours off, report back at 0440L, two legs back to MEM via BIL and land ~1200L. There's also another similar one that goes back through DFW. Those trips really aren't "turnable", so they typically fall at the end of a series of trips.

The DEN stuff scattered through other lines is going to a variety of seniorities - so, 757 is your best shot early on to get DEN trips in the first 3-5 years (as a guess).

There are a few more "cats and dogs" but that's a big picture look at most of the DEN flying. The 757 AFW-DEN stuff went away in Aug. It doesn't seem to be in another aircraft bidpack and there's no explanation that I can find. Things do fluctuate sometimes, so it may come back but it's hard to say for sure.

airlinepilotguy

How long is the layover for an international flight? i.e. Memphis-Cologne, Germany

Jetjok

APG,

How about at least saying "Thank You" for the effort that guys have made on your behalf.

airlinepilotguy

I am very grateful for the effort and time they spent to write those messages. However, the time you took to be hostile is not appreciated.