FedEx questions
 

Hey guys, couple quick questions

- How long now to get LAX FO?

- How hard is it to giveaway trips being a mid level FO?

- What's a typical schedule for a MEM or LAX guy?
- 7 on 7 off?

- Is there any chance for shorter trips, 2-4 day trips?


I'm a 4 year SW FO looking at my options.

Thanks-

Current bottom of the list LAX FO have over 10 years of seniority. It is by far the most senior FO seat in the company.

Trip give away and have the ability to make up the time... depends on your fleet and the reserve manning. Sometimes easy and sometimes not. ... Trip give away and you don't care about the money or the make up time. Very easy. And made particularly easy with the implementation of a trip proffer option with the latest CBA.

Schedules vary greatly depending on your fleet. Some domestic guys have 5-6 on and 8-9 off.. some work 3 on 4 off.. International flying can range from 2 day trips to 11-15 day single departure lines for the month and everything in between.

One of the nice things about the airline, is that there is a good bit of variety in the flying. Just expect a good portion of that flying to be on the backside of the clock.

Good luck with your decision process.

appreciate your information jumbo..

i'm sure its in here somewhere, but could you explain trip proffer..?

thanks in advance-

You can put it on the open time list for someone to take it off your hands. There are a couple of option for banking or not banking the hours. I think a proffer gets pulled 48 hours from show.

72 hours ... Filler

Phone Call
 

Anyone know a way to get a phone call from FedEx? I've had my app in for a while and watched a few of my friends get the chance but I'm still waiting. Looking for some advice and help from anyone. Thanks all.
7100TT, 1400TPIC, 767 Type, Masters Degree, No Busts.
Thanks.

Your friends probably know more than us. They tell us nothing.

Stay put........

Our recent FDX new-hires have come from all corners of aviation, including your carrier (SWA) and other majors.

With massive hiring and retiring and better CBA, I would completely disagree. I came over from SWA and would do it again in a heartbeat.

No, I wish they did. I figured that the 767 type would at least help but with the hiring being 3rd party they know as little as I do. Would love to get the chance and welcome everyones thoughts. Thanks

Honestly, I don't have a good way to get to the top of the stack. Definitely get recommendations from your friends. I don't think they have the weight they should, but they certainly won't hurt.

Keep updating. If you volunteer for HKG and CGN, it may help. While these assignments may not be ideal (maybe they are), but it at least gets your foot in the door.

Good luck!

What about FedEx hiring involves a "third party"?

I have heard that there are services that review your application for errors that the computer will kick out. Does anyone know if this indeed an option and who offers this service?

Emerald Coast. For all your interview/application needs.

I didn't do the app review but used the prep and it worked well!

I used Centerline Interview Consulting. For $99 we reviewed Airline Apps and Pilot Creds. Combed over both apps and help refine the product. I thought it was well worth the money. Don't forget you can write off almost anything during the job hunt. I had nearly $2k in 2015 for job fair fees, airline tickets, hotel room, rental car, app review, Airline App fee, new suit. I'll have a few bucks to write off this year with FedEx ticket and hotel and Delta hotel. FedEx doesn't pay you for any travel.

BL: fork out the cash to make yourself and more importantly your app look spotless. It's worth it!

Moose, how long were you at SW? How does the flexibility compare?

How hard to drop down days worked per month?

Also, what's average monthly work day totals on MEM wide body fleet vs 757?

Comparing WB vs 757 isn't going to tell you much. Since a significant amount of WB flying is in the domestic system just like the 757, they end up being the same. Any disparity in days off is going to occur in the 777 versus the other fleets. This is based on the consistent over 12 hour long haul flying the 777 does and the structure of the 777 pairings.

So, across the company - all domiciles, all fleets (except 777), the average days off for line-holders are within .5 of each other.
28 day month - 14 days off
35 day month - 18 days off
(so, ~ 180 work days per year)

777
28 day month - 16 days off
35 day month - 21 days off
(~ 152 work days per year)

As an average 777 F/O line holder, you'll probably average 25-28 more days off per year than all but the top 10-20% on any other fleet.

Thanks for the info guys-

Any thoughts on highly experienced 767/757 UPS pilots coming over to FedEx ?

You should apply and find out for yourself. Not sure why you would need APC to reassure you if you should or not.

If you truly think UPS is the reason you don't like your job then FEDEX is a great company to work for.

What's the rigs like at FedEx? Min per day, or is it per time away from base?

Why would they leave UPS and come to FedEx?

Why does anyone do anything? Those who want to leave have their reasons. The grass is always greener on the other side, or should I say, at least the grass is not brown at FedEx.

Working for UPS stinks. Not the pay, benefits, equipment, etc, but the company. No matter how badly you guys at FedEx think you're being treated by the company, I guarantee it's 1/10 as bad as the IPA guys get treated, on a daily basis, by their company. If there were a national seniority list, they'd all be applying.

Yes to both.

Trip rig is 1 credit hour for each 3.75 TAFB. Min pay per duty period (our day spans the night) is generally 6 hours, although last/first day could be 3 or in rare cases 9.

75 seniority list question: how far from top FO does one have to be (# & yrs if known) to hold something like GSP turns? And also, is a trip like that a solid line/city pair for bid or are you in a different town every day?

Reason I ask is I'm caught between two offers (FDX & DAL). Leaning DAL since it's an easy drive but if GSP trips are possible with FDX in a few years that would turn the table!
THX!!

I can't hold those lines and I've been here 3.5 years. With our current movement can I hold them soon? I have no idea. Just one or two guys senior to me could be waiting to park there for years.

One thing to keep in mind about turning through home with Fedex, you land around 0600ish and go back to work around 2100ish. You then fly to Memphis, rest a few hours, and then fly back to GSP...rinse...repeat. Going home to rest for multiple turns may not work with the typical home distractions and noise. While some guys go home and make it work, there are plenty of others that come to the hotel to rest even though they are local.

The main advantage to holding your home is the bookend dead heads to get you to/from Memphis that you don't take. It cuts your actual work days down significantly.

I've talked with several 06-07 hires who are filling out the app.

Some are 756/767,A300, and MD11 typed. You know, training is free at UPS.

I'd be surprised to see if any left. I could see if some had ties to a FDX hub. I've got friends at both and prospects appear to be better at FDX, but things could improve at UPS following the contract. Once the UPS guys get to 2-3 pay, it's tough to start over again. Throwing a line in the water is a lot different than actually leaving.

A previous poster mentioned a national seniority list. I put that up there with home basing and your very own airplane and MX crew, a la WWII movie fighter pilot style. It won't happen, but it is nice to dream.

There are so many unfilled A300 fo slots, they are going to be hiring a ton of people into that seat (along with the others you listed, of course). It would be great to have newhires with A300 experience. I would hope anyone from UPS is put on the top of the interview pile, should they apply.

How many new FO spots on the Bus are you seeing compared to reserve lines in an average bidpack?

Given what you're seeing with vacancies and the projected hiring, how long might a newhire on the Bus spend on reserve?

The latest Indoc class had the Caboose go to the A300.

Our last bid showed 56 Airbus FO spots, only 7 were filled. There were 97 757 slots, only 3 filled. 89 MD11 spots, only 19 filled. That doesn't include secondaries (meaning all the FO's from those airplanes that moved up or over, and there were many FO's that moved). All of those spots should be filled by newhires.

There were 54 Airbus FO reserve lines in July, however, those were not all filled by the most junior people. Guys who live in Memphis might prefer those. When I looked at who got awarded them, only 18 were obvious newhires, from looking at seniority numbers.

No way to predict how long a newhire would spend on reserve, however I just flew with someone whose been checked out for about 8 months, and he has held VTO (secondary lines with little/no reserve) for months. As long as the hiring keeps up like this, seems like it shouldn't be long. However, many people think a reserve line is better than a crappy line, or bottom VTO.

Interesting that guys are taking the 767 ahead of the bus. I realize that many probably don't even know what an A300 is, but they probably also are unaware that the delays in 76 training can mean an extended time on training pay.

From a newhire perspective, aside from the extended time in training pay, what would the advantage be of the 767 over the A300, or vice versa?

I could see why guys are going to it. The A300 is a shrinking fleet, predicted to eventually disappear entirely. Though they seem to be shrinking it a lot slower than planned. The 767 is growing like crazy, so you can see the potential for greater seniority.

But I'm staying with the bus until they toss me outta there!

Advantage of the bus--it's a nice airplane. Bathrooms and jumpseats are outside of the cockpit (we do have two in the cockpit, but rarely used). I've heard the 767 is a great airplane to fly, from the cockpit seats, forward....behind you are the jumpseaters and the bathroom, which from the fact I'm saying it twice, you can tell it's a negative.

In talking to FedEx pilots, there definitely seems to be a widespread opinion that the A300 is a bit different than the rest of the fleet...my inference was that it had to do with the old-ish avionics, but there have also been references to strange pairings in bidpacks, and more than once I've heard that "they're a bit of an oddball community."

In a post here at APC a while ago, IIRC, Albie called the Bus (I apologize if I'm misquoting you -- I hope I'm catching the gist of what you actually said) a "stiff-legged *****". To be fair, it was in the middle of him musing about how incredible of a lady the MD-11 is, but for some reason that phrase stuck in the back of my mind bout the A300.

Not trying to stir the pot, but I just thought MX727's observation was interesting in the context of all those other mumblings, as they may be.

A300=Plowhorse
MD11=Thoroughbred


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"Oddball community" at FedEx means, the "cool people" to the rest of the world...