It depends on the 777. If you have 2 separate blocks of RA days, you usually will work 1 block. If you only have one 15 day block of RA, you are going somewhere. RB is a whole different animal with many variables but goes more senior than RA. R24 is another word for hotel standby in Memphis.

UA
Is that a 02/16 start date?
So basically 5 months (20+ weeks) to activation?:eek:

Thanks for the stats!

My strategy (so far):

Last day at home: 0500 wake up, coffee coffee coffee until noon. 3.5hr drive to Memphis, dinner, sleep room. Lights out no later than 8pm with a :20 prior wake up call setup. Wake up call, coffee, check the release on my phone, look for friends to chat with, head to the computer to meet the captain about :05 prior to showtime. Airplane stuff, COFFEE, land. Breakfast and sleep with no alarm. Wake up and late lunch, coffee, go for a run, dinner and get ready to fly back. No more coffee after 2 or 3pm so I can sleep 2-3hrs in the sleep room during the turn, then repeat from the wake up call ad nauseum. Arrive back to MEM on the last day around 11pm and go to crashpad or hotel and sleep until 7 or 8 am and drive home.

If I jumpseat in I'll work it differently. Get up at 0500 and help the family get ready and out the door, go back to sleep from 0700-1000 and then catch a 2-3hr nap in the sleep room that night. I'll then stalk open time for a trip on the last day that has a backend deadhead that will get me home instead of J/S home (J/S home is no different than another hub turn, and I'll get home and crash until 2pm which I no longer want).

Sorry I got the threads mixed up. Read one, reply was more applicable to the first year thread. Anyhow, yes it took me a while due to an unexpected medical issue that required surgery during training. Company could not have been any better. My situation was unique and probably a worst case scenario. Know this, if something happens to you they will take care of you.

UA

The bad thing about nite hub turns at FX is losing the last day off that rolls into ur first day at work. You have to get a combat nap or get up super early to trick yourself into an early nap.

Sounds doable, and considering everything that FedEx has to offer, it is a good gig.

Basically, I'm trying to measure the balance between my current 121 job, which involves a 15 minute drive to work, living in an ideal city. Pay rates at present are well below market, but potentially large raises could be achieved later this year.

Here is a break down of my February bid month (it's a 30 day bid period)

16 days off, working 4 two-day trips and 2 three-day trips.

Of the 14 days that I work this month:
9 days have one leg,
1 day has two legs,
4 days have three legs (same time zone, or one time zone shift)
All day flying (not WOCL).
8 nights at a hotel.
Approximately 79 hours of scheduled FAR block.
Original credit 80 hours, but with delays, it is pushing 84 credit hours.

It is a lot of flying, but living in base and avoiding WOCL flying is a big plus. There is definitely more income potential, stability, variety of equipment/operations, etc. with FedEx, but I find it challenging to determine the value of higher pay with commuting and adjusting to the night hub-turn schedule.

You lost me at 79 hours of block.

You'll look back and wonder why you thought it was a hard decision...

Well, you zeroed right in on one of the big issues. Practically ZERO soft pay. It is a big negative.

That's how I want it to go down.