Also, be careful applying someone's definition of "less than desirable lines." While we can all agree that some lines suck, it is all relative....and keep in mind it is relative to that aircraft and moreover, to airline/cargo life as well.

I am currently bidding around 75% in the right seat of our most junior aircraft. Last month I got my 4th choice. The lowest choice of lines I have received this year is 53rd (I input 175+ choices every month). I am continually amazed what falls to me. What is one pilot's trash is my treasure I guess.

I retired at twenty from probably one of the easiest deals around (Full Time Support Trainng command IP for 11 of the last 13 years) and I like it better here. Every time I get that itch, all I do is call up one of my buds who stayed in to see how things are going. Some of the time I only get to talk to there wives or to them on FB or email....since they are deployed...again.

 

There are a few threads on the stay AD vs airline for the Navy and Marine folk over on the airwarriors forum... including some guys who retired and are junior at the passanger airlines. You may be able to get some useful info there as well.

Being miserable for 4 years sounds pretty awful. I don't know anyone at the majors who made the jump from the military who would describe their life as miserable... I've got quite a few friends who are still on AD embracing the suck for a (bigger) pension and it doesn't seem to be enjoyable much at all.

I would rather be employed longer term with a good quality of life in a place I want to live, and could live permanently, instead of being miserable the next half decade moving around in looking for a slightly bigger check. I did 12 years Active Duty, and outside of some of the flying, I can honestly say I don't miss it. YMMV.

 

Hydawood- I sent you a PM.

 

HW,

Stayed 26+ in Navy, but nobody was hiring at the 20 year mark. I enjoyed the years after 20, but huge caveat is i kept flying and i had jobs/a location i liked and worked for great bosses. I personally can't discuss Fedex backside of the clock flying because i stayed at a pax major when Purple finally offered a class date. Let me throw out two issues to consider:

1. Some of the best advice i ever received was to stay if you are having fun and still getting promoted. If you are tracking toward a star that is a whole other matter and the dues you and your family will have to pay to get there and stay there is best covered by somebody with first hand info, as the Navy and i shared a long held mutual belief that it was not my calling. LOL. But you have a shot at 0-6, so the question now is what and where do they want you to go and do? First 0-6 jobs are generally like post command jobs; you feel like you have performed and deserve a reward and your detailer or monitor feels like they made you an 0-6 so you owe them. Getting stuck on the staff of a workaholic screamer 2-3 star is no picnic, and that commute home to the burbs of DC after a 16 hour day polishing the power point with a 0700 meeting the next day can be just as onerous as any night flying. If a carrot is at the end of that tunnel of horror, it is tolerable. But i know many who got stuck in that grinder and hated it. YMMV. Last thing is i got told to shut up and color more times as an 0-6 than from E-1 to 0-5. Have never missed it. Miss the people and the flying i used to do but that is long gone.

2. At a pax carrier, about 1/4-1/3 of my flying is backside of the clock flying. To be honest i do not avoid it since it shapes most 4 days into 3 days trips and generally has layovers i like. The greatest thing though is i don't have to be at work the next day at 0700. And no emails or taskers. I am the Boss of me now, and just me. Wife and i moved for the first time in 30 years of marriage to a place we chose. Many days at home i never put on shoes. Wear long pants only to work and church. There is more out there and it can be very good.

Best of Luck

 

Just remember that while Albie is sucking it up, he is doing so as a wide body Captain, making almost $300 (with international override pay) per credit hour. If he had stayed a wide body FO, he would have great schedules and still be making over $200 per credit hour. Since 900-1000 is a good guesstimate for a low to average year, with some guys making 1400 credit hours or more, you can have great schedules with decent money or great money with less than decent schedules.

 

Do you have time in grade?
Just as a ballpark, if you are lucky enough to be hired by FedEx you will have passed on 57k of B plan contributions (NB FO). You need 25 years at FedEx to max out the FedEx A plan. My wag would put you at the 48'sh ballpark if you stay in. So that's 17 years of service and that equates to a 88.4k annual pension compared to the 114.4k pension an extra 5 years at FedEx will give you

(Hopefully CBA 2022/3 will increase the numbers, and eliminate or at least reduce the IRS cap penalties with a cash over cap B plan in line with industry standards)

Will FedEx even be hiring in 5-6 years? I've read Japan is at least considering raising the regulatory age and what if that rolls our way per ICAO standards. Airline hiring is musical chairs and you never quite know what's going to make the music stop.
I hope that there will never be another furlough period at the pax guys, but you never quite know. And it sure would be better to have a few years of folks between you and the what the heck do I do now crowd

 

I made this decision, about two months ago, and start md11 training in a few weeks..

I have five years til AGR retirement, am 40, kid just left for college..

Aside from the obvious fiscal reasons.. I'm tired of the queep, stress and deployments.. The military ain't what it used to be, and the future is uncertain.. I wasn't willing to gamble on it, when I consider 5 years of seniority at FedEx. I'll stay on as a TR, as long as I can stomach it. I have 22 years total mil, so I can go anytime..

We'll see how it goes.. Good luck with your decision..

 

For what its worth - I hit 20yrs +1 day in early 2017. My decision matrix right now is on waiting an additional year to take O5 time in grade or take the retirement at a lesser grade. The difference is anywhere from 500-1000 seniority numbers at the cost of a car payment per month for life. Now folks that were part of the lost decade would say they would easily pay that much to gain that much seniority but now I'm not so sure. Everyone in this industry says "seniority is everything"...but is it worth $200,000 over the course of a second career? My figures say that flying for a major cargo or pax carrier flying mins over 20 years...that money is nearly in the round-off error.

My personal hurdle is "recency of flying" because of staff duty. I'm fully expecting regionals for awhile and the extra retirement money may be nice...but in that situation I'm looking at 1000-2000 seniority numbers difference if I stay in longer AND go to a regional.

I would suggest looking at carriers in addition to FedEx that have relatively good reserve rules and a domicile where you want to retire. I have friends that are all ex-mil and live in domicile as 737 FOs and bid reserve most of the time. With their military retirement check and their 100-150K annual salaries they do quite nicely and spend most of their time golfing. The cool thing about this job and what I find so attractive is that a person in many ways can choose their own adventure. Live in base, commute, chase QOL or chase max W2s. Another option is corporate but that is for another thread eh?

Good luck.

 

Retired from USAF active duty at 22 years. Wonderful career, went to some neat places, met & flew with great people, and enjoyed great memories. No regrets, and grateful for the opportunity.

Came to FedEx 11 years ago. Wonderful career (knock on wood), went (and still going) to some neat places, meet and fly with great people every trip, and enjoy many great memories, now and in the future. No regrets, and grateful for the opportunity.

If the rank/command/challenge is what you truly aspire to, stay. If you are just "marking time" for a bigger retirement check, you are missing out on a truly historic hiring wave.

I'll conclude by saying, once you finally do retire (whenever that is), your wife/family is going to experience culture shock--"Honey, don't you need to leave on a trip soon?" It's a whole different life, and I LOVE IT! Good luck, whatever your call. And come on over to Purple, you won't regret it.

 

Thanks again to all. If everyone "on the property" (did I get that right...when in rome) is as helpful as you all, it sounds like the place to be. Now I just need to try to crack the code on the application process, no shortage of threads for that...
HW