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FedEx First Year Info for New Hires...

Old 02-08-2017, 07:13 AM
  #31  
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It would be nice if the company used the 76 for newhires as a last resort (same type rating, same instructors, until recently same sims), but it's a mishmash.

No way to know what the future holds.

Would avoid 777 as just not much flexibility in that system for someone with young kids. (Biggest $$'s though, so if there's a lot of familial support for CinCHaus could be more of a player. But 15 days gone is tough)

Would avoid the Bus, Bidpack is shrinking. One big spike in fuel prices and I could see us parking quite a few. Which can be great.

76 is growing, and WB pay. Haven't looked at the bidpacks, but think your relative Seniority would be similar 75 or 76. My expectation is more of the Senior FOs are already in a WB or laying over at home in the 75. Wouldn't expect many of them to transition to the 76, some will because it's an easy transition from the 75. Upgrade to the bigger bucks 777, yes. 75 Capt, yes.

Hope your parents chose your lucky numbers wisely.
Good Luck
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Old 02-08-2017, 07:27 AM
  #32  
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Wow, tons of really solid information. I really appreciate the timely feedback. Based on my situation and the information provided it looks like 767 is probably the best of many good options. Again, thanks for the feedback. Cheers

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Old 02-08-2017, 02:46 PM
  #33  
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Here's what you need to do. Buy BidX. Get someone on property to sent you the .asc files for the bidpacks. Download and look at them yourself. Any FDX bubba who uses it can show you how to download bid awards for the last few months and see what guys fly. Look closely at the trips, and the trips junior guys can routinely hold. What makes once guy hold his nose might be attractive to you and vice versa...so I'd get some DATA vice opinions and make your own assessment.

3 kids in the house under 4 sucks....regardless of what you bid. I dont' mean its not a magic time full of love and happiness, but I don't think anyone looks back at those times and says "those were the highlight of my marriage". Kids get sick, puke, crap, and cry more when you are on a trip. I raised 3, but we spread 'em out a bit more. God bless you and the challenges you have, but its also a magic time.

I'll throw out two "outside the box" solutions.

1. Bid HKG. (I'm not kidding). Rent out your VPS house to military bro for 3 year assignment. Get a helper--live in or live out doesn't matter. Bid reserve. Mom gets an extra set of hands, you learn the 76 and fly to some cool places when the phone does ring. (Hint: It doesn't ring much here). Commute to VPS once or twice a month for an 8-9 day reserve period. Fly and blow stuff up. See what you did there? You just lived like you bid an international trip on the 777..but inverted it. Gone to other side of the world to work, home with fam the rest of the time. FedEx covers your (modest) house, oldest's preschool, and you spoil your wife 3 years. Bid back to MEM/VPS in 3 years before you start paying tuition for kids 2 or 3. One commute per month, less than 10 days. You and wife can have dates in the one of most fascinating cities in the world while helper entertains the kids.

2. Bid for big pay...777. Commute to MEM once a month (via BFM or TLH j/s) and go make money. Take % of those dollars and dedicate to in-house maid service or nanny support back in VPS.

Your issue isn't flying. Your issue is babies in the house. Get some support. Don't make your wife a single mom if you can avoid it.

Here's the gig: Rule 1: No matter what you bid, your wife is going to be overwhelmed at times. Make money, and get her some extra support. THAT is what is going to make her happy. You will make $1000 day year two on the 777. Would you rather stay at home and change diapers and forfeit that money, or would you rather pay someone $100 a day to do that and help and pocket the $900? By the way--even if you are home, you won't "do it right" anyway when you take care of the babies. Pay an expert, and do all you can to turn the baby momma back into your wife/girlfriend. She'll appreciate the support. Rule 2: You will have sex X numbers of time a month with your wife. Would you rather have X/30 or X/18?

If I sound like an ass here with that pragmatism, I'll offer than I've been married to a wife I adore for almost 28 years. I've raised 3 girls..one's a pilot, one is doing well in college, and one is tearing it up here in an international IB school. The key to a happy life is not how many butts you wipe or hours you spend in the kitchen, but but rather making sure your wife feels like you invest in her happiness. I've had this talk with my daughters--instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on a weeding, how about you have a more modest event (that last a day) and invest in doing some things that will help you marriage down the road. A honeymoon trip is a waste as a newlywed--you'd be happy screwing in motel 6 at that point. After 3-4 years of struggling as you start off on your careers, however, and throwing in a baby or two a mom and dad getaway to Cozumel or Hawaii might be pretty valuable. A little domestic help also can reduce a lot of house tension. You are about to embark on a new career, and there's going to be a lot of stress no matter how wonderful a husband or lovely of a wife you each try to be. Get the tools in place now to reduce that tension.

(Dang...sorry if I went Dr Phil on you here. I've just met so many sad and miserable divorced pilots and I don't want anyone else to join that club...)

Last edited by Albief15; 02-08-2017 at 03:07 PM.
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Old 02-08-2017, 07:26 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by Meat Fighter View Post
Just received the CJO. Everyone on the property was world class and I couldn't be more excited at this opportunity.

Before I put in my dream sheet for aircraft selection I'd like to solicit for some advice from the contributors here.

Situation: We have our third daughter due two weeks before indoc so mama is going to have three girls at home under the age of four. I will be commuting from the panhandle of Florida(military separation) and was curious to know if you were in my shoes which aircraft you would select at this point in time? I would be excited to fly any of the aircraft, but would prefer the fleet that allows the best seniority progression in order to allow me to hold a line and consolidate my time at home to the max extent possible.

Any and all advice is welcome.

*Hat tip to Albie; the information you have provided both on the forum and ECIC has been invaluable for this guy separating from the military at 14 years.



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Another option which combines some of Albie's pros...

Move to MEM - the panhandle of Florida can be a tough commute. It's not our toughest, but it can get crowded. You have young kids and schooling is down the road. Come to MEM, bid reserve (I recommend the 76), and do both of the QOL things Albie recs above....be home more and use a little extra money to get some help for when you are gone. Spend a few years deciding where you really want to live and move once the kids get into school and you are more senior. If you are eventually leaving your existing support network down the road, you should consider this option.

I know it sounds crazy, but if you can find the right neighborhood for your family, your local schedule will beat a similar seat, similar seniority commuter's schedule 99% of the time.
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Old 02-08-2017, 09:33 PM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by Albief15 View Post

3 kids in the house under 4 sucks....

We had 4 under 3 and I thought it was great. We must've been doing something wrong. Tough sometimes, but great.


Originally Posted by Albief15 View Post

I raised 3, ...

... your wife is going to be overwhelmed at times. Make money, and get her some extra support. THAT is what is going to make her happy. You will make $1000 day year two on the 777. Would you rather stay at home and change diapers and forfeit that money, or would you rather pay someone $100 a day to do that and help and pocket the $900? By the way--even if you are home, you won't "do it right" anyway when you take care of the babies. Pay an expert, and do all you can to turn the baby momma back into your wife/girlfriend. She'll appreciate the support.

There were times when we had no choice, with 30+ day TDYs and 330 days/year away from home. We never found anyone we could pay to be there who my wife would prefer over having her husband, the children's father, at home. You can't put a dollar figure on the value of having a dad at home. There's no spreadsheet bottom line that makes domestic help the better option.



Originally Posted by Albief15 View Post

I've raised 3 girls..

You meant to say, "We've raised ...", right?






.
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Old 02-09-2017, 03:09 AM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by TonyC View Post
We had 4 under 3 and I thought it was great. We must've been doing something wrong. Tough sometimes, but great.



.
Golf clapping. No sarcasm. It has to be tough.
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Old 02-09-2017, 03:10 AM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by TonyC;2297874




You meant to say, "We've raised ...", right?

[color=paleturquoise
.[/color]
Caught me. Guilty. Anyone who knows me knows my girls got their looks and their manners from their momma (thankfully).
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Old 02-09-2017, 03:33 AM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by TonyC View Post
There were times when we had no choice, with 30+ day TDYs and 330 days/year away from home. We never found anyone we could pay to be there who my wife would prefer over having her husband, the children's father, at home. You can't put a dollar figure on the value of having a dad at home. There's no spreadsheet bottom line that makes domestic help the better option.


.
Did a lot TDY as well...but those days were over when I started my airline career. Desert Storm, Provide Comfort, OSW, ONW, etc. all took a toll, and my two oldest still remember those times.

While you cannot put a price on the value of dad being at home, the value of dad on the road at FDX is Hourly pay x about 6 hours + perdiem+B fund contribution. If I really, really wanted to be super dad I could have become a teacher and seen them every day at school, or perhaps home schooled them instead. But I didn't. I am an airline pilot.

I'm not here to belittle stay at home moms, or stay at home dads. What I will say is what they got for letting me chase my dreams was the chase to their own too. Flying lessons, cheerleading camps and events, cars, tuition....any parent can do the math. Life takes money. Making money takes time. Every parent tries to find the right balance. In my case as my kids have gotten older they have gotten to travel all over the globe with me. I was home for proms, major events, plays, recitals, and the standard refrigerator picture list of events...but they also knew that to live our lifestyle daddy has to be gone at times. They seem to have turned out just fine.

My point is I've seen guys who will spend 30k on a new boat who recoil at paying for a babysitter for a night out with mom or a little extra help during the week. Being a cheap--especially when it comes to your family--is a bad investment. Guys will change the oil on a car to keep it maintained, but if a marriage breaks its a lot more stressful than if a car quits running. That was my point. If guys think staying home more makes life better--do it. But unless you live in domicile, you are going to likely be away several nights each month. It still beats the military schedules. My point was simply use some of that hard earned cash to try to make momma's life easier, and everyone wins.
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Old 02-09-2017, 07:06 AM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by Daniel Larusso View Post
As others have said, the 757 is likely your fastest progression to a line on paper. That said, the company hasn't been putting many(any?) newhires into the airplane for awhile, preferring to send them to the 767 instead. If they don't hire much into the 75 in the near term, it's not gonna help your relative seniority. The 76 has more senior people transitioning out of the MD and Airbus every bid, in addition to the recent hires move from the 75 to the 76. In the end, the Airbus may turn out to be the quickest to a line for you as they're hiring into it and there aren't many senior FO's transitioning into it.
I'd have to agree with this. Very Valid Points regarding the 757/767 and A300.

To further that thought, the A300 might offer the best QOL for a few years but then you could find your self stagnating. Bottom line, you are junior as a new hire and it takes time to gain seniority. I know some guys think it is crazy, but after a year or two, the 757 might offer a better QOL. You could down bid into the 757; trade a little money for better QOL. I know a lot of guys who have done that and been glad they did it.
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Old 02-09-2017, 12:18 PM
  #40  
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Has IND been going to new hires at all? Or is that a pretty senior base?
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