Originally Posted by Albief15

I think a hotel or lodging allowance would be a nice perk to a future contract, and in fact this contract did double the new hire pay. First year is always a budget slicer at almost any airline.



That said, we have some more folks leaving SWA shortly to come here. A few have left Delta and UAL as well recently. Most understand they will likely be flying the middle of the night on the 757 for at least a while, and at a discount to the quality of life and income for a short period. And FedEx still turns down a bunch of wannabes on day 1 (test) or 2 (interview) with some frequency. And the classes are yet...somehow...still full. Like Adler said--they are looking at the horizon, not the short term when they make these decisions.



I don't think anyone should have to suffer to come to FedEx, but first year perks are always a contentious issue in negotiations. Historically, pilots don't turn down a good job, but will leave when a better one is offered. Thus, airlines know they will have some attrition year 1 and don't spike the benefits until year 2. For years folks bailed on FedEx for other places, then we along with SWA became the rock stars after 9/11 by default. The last few years have seen the tide change a bit, and now folks leave SWA for other pastures. I know of a couple that left FDX, but they numbers are pretty small. The point is, however, there has never been a shortage of pilots wanting to work at the top paying airlines, including FedEx. For every one of your guys who say "meh...I need passes for my family and a hotel in training...." there are literally thousands (yes--thousands) that want to be here. I know, because my team works with hundreds of these folks each month.



One of the things that has always frustrated me as a coach is when a pilot says he "cannot afford to work" for x company. This may be a regional captain happy at his hometown airline with a good schedule, or a military officer retiring or separating from the service. While I realize that there can be traumatic life events that throw you for a financial curve, if you know anything about this industry you know that first year airline pay is always a bit of a step down for most pilots from their current job. The key to overcoming that is a little foresight and planning. I don't show up at the IAF with only enough gas for one approach, and I didn't show at FedEx with a lot of new excess debt in my life. Many guys hired in the 90s were sub 100k for years, and for me being on the panel for almost 3 years I never broke 100k at FedEx until about year 5. These days, second year guys are making 140-200k. Numbers at Delta and UAL are also healthy. If you cannot show up ready to gut through one year (with solid health care and insurance provided day one) I have to question your decision making and motivation to be in the career. It has always taken sacrifice to get here, but to my eyes it seems the price of entry has gone down tremendously the last few years, and that's a good thing. The pay curves at the airlines have come up and right hard since about 2008, but the biggest areas of improvement have been in the lower left side of the graph--the early part of the career. At the legacies right now, its six figures year 2. But--when you hear someone whining about first year travails at places like SWA, FedEx, or Delta, its easy to understand why they don't get much sympathy. I couldn't hold a WB right seat for almost 5 years at FedEx, and now we put new hires in the 777, MD-11, and A-300. Its a different world, and its a much, much more lucrative career than even just 10 years ago.

Originally Posted by 5millionaire

If any prospective new hires don’t want to come here because of training pay and or having to foot the hotel/crashpad bill, I’m not sure I want to be flying with them.

If one lacks the foresight, they probably lack other qualities as well.

Originally Posted by gatorhater

Albie, I agree with 99% of what you said, but a hotel for the first two weeks should be provided. If they sign a long term contract in Southhaven they’ll likely get it for $75/night. Adding $1100 to the cost of the first year won’t break any FedEx budget and its a nice gesture to let guys get oriented to Memphis, better comradarie with their class and a crash pad lined up before the real fun begins.

Originally Posted by DirtyPurple

The hardest / most undesirable part of my job is being paid to deadhead on other airlines.

Originally Posted by Adlerdriver

Yeah, I’d much rather be hub turning at 0200 than sitting in a lay flat seat, sipping single malt and watching a couple of movies.

.

Originally Posted by StarClipper

What if they just can’t afford to do it? You never know what’s going on in that individual life. Probably lots of family medical bills and they’re barely getting by.

Originally Posted by StarClipper

That I agree with, however there are some of the rare situations some people fall into.