Originally Posted by Coopy101 (Post 2047667)

One thing , and I don't work there , at FedEx you don't have to go to 65 to get your full A plan . 25 years gets you the max. A person starting at 35 years old could go at 60 with the full $130,000 . If he has maxed out his B plan over that same 25 years and gotten a conservative 4 or 5% return he will have the luxury of deciding if he wants to go past 60.

Originally Posted by Sniper (Post 2047107)

One of the 'upsides' of FedEx is the retirement, a $130k annuity for life.

Just to put that in perspective, if you are a 40 year old male today, you currently have an average life expectancy of about 78.1 years (based on the 2011 Social Security Administration Actuary table, where you'd be 35 in 2011). Pilots always assume they're 'above average', so, lets say you live to 85.

In that case, the Fed Ex annuity is 20 years of 10,833.34/month. You'd need about $1.69m when you retire to get that amount (based on a 4.5% return in retirement). So . . . what's a Delta retirement worth, right?

Delta pays you 15% of your income into a retirement plan. So, over the next 25 years, you'd have to average $180k in annual income (not including your 15% contribution) to get $1.69m into your retirement. Assuming 3% annual wage growth, that's about $121k today (i.e., if you make $121k today and your wages grow 3% a year, over the next 25 years, you'll average $180k annually, getting you $1.69m in your retirement if you have a 15% contribution).

Can a Delta pilot average around what is today $121k? I think most Delta pilots break this # within the first 5 years of working for Delta. You'd then have the next 20 years to make up for the loss in the 1st 5 years. The #'s seem very reasonable - you might not need to ever upgrade to Captain, honestly.

That's just the #'s today. Obviously, they're just a shot in the dark, since the retirement package @ Delta and Fed Ex will almost certainly change over the next 1/4 century, and, yeah, your $130k is secure @ Fed Ex, but the market could tank, and so would your Delta retirement. But, it gives you an idea of what the Fed Ex pension is worth roughly, today, assuming no changes.

As I see it, $130k/annually in retirement is well within the range of a 40 year old Delta pilot hired today.

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My personal advice: Delta. Why? You want to live in the northeast. The NYC base at every large airline is junior (Delta, United, JetBlue). If you can live within driving distance of BOS, there's a Delta shuttle every hour from BOS-LGA (and there's 20 flights today from BOS-JFK as well, 3 of them on Delta). If you're going to commute, it doesn't get much better than that. If can live within driving distance of NYC, then that's the best, but I'm assuming any good 'Mainer' would never live that close to NYC. The greater amount of day time flying is a plus too.

2 great choices: you honestly can't go wrong. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Rum Runner (Post 2047122)

Just make sure when you are running your numbers you include the A-Fund AND the 8/9% B-Fund for FedEx. Comparing the 15% Delta plan only to the A Fund doesn't tell the whole story.

Originally Posted by Victor Vector (Post 2046149)

Fellow Pilots,
I just got my dream job offer. Twice. Both FedEx and Delta want me to start indoc on the same day next month. I'm doing my research and looking at pay scales, retirement plans, etc. I want to live in the northeast (New Hampshire or Maine). I don't mind flying at night… sometimes.
Any advice or opinions on which offer I should take would be greatly appreciated. Or please point me to a discussion that has already occurred on the forum.

Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by EyesOn (Post 3314884)

I was searching for domiciles and saw this old thread. Which company did you go with? Any positives or negatives to pass along?

thanks,

EO

Originally Posted by ogarmyopar (Post 3317382)

Also struggling with this difficult decision! I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to choose and would be ecstatic to fly for either company. Will most likely always be a commuter for both so that doesn’t make the decision any easier.

Originally Posted by ogarmyopar (Post 3317382)

Also struggling with this difficult decision! I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to choose and would be ecstatic to fly for either company. Will most likely always be a commuter for both so that doesn’t make the decision any easier.

Originally Posted by dualinput (Post 3317793)

Unless you are 25 FedEx any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Originally Posted by Flying Boxes (Post 3318117)

and if you’re 25 definitely FedEx!! You will have a ~30 year B777 captain career!!