Yeah, I guess I was not sarcastic enough. Maybe I should’ve added a “don’t drink the cool-aid” remark.

It’s not all gloom and doom though. If you can do DEC in the ATR and be based with an aircraft, life is good. Home every day. Three weeks on, one week off. Fly 2 hours per night and spend 8 hours in a hotel. Weekends home. There’s hardly any attrition among those guys.

I do appreciate hearing realistic numbers, this is a career that I'm 100% sure that I want to get into so I'm willing to accept all the bad for the good.

The key to this career field is to simply not step onto any land mines, and the playing field is loaded with them.
These land mines are disguised as failed check rides, upsetting the wrong people, vindictive employers that abuse PRIA, FAA LOI’s, a simple lapse in good judgement, etc. Keep a low profile, try really hard to not fail any check rides, avoid working for crappy outfits(incredibly hard to do just starting out), always be a professional, and most importantly, don’t backstab your fellow pilot. Small industry, people remember, and very often will be on the other side of the fence when you are trying to get in somewhere.

It took me 18 years from zero hours total time to FedEx new hire. Results may vary but I was young for my new-hire class.

One company is based in Memphis, TN, the other in Louisville, KY.
I’d say “y’all” should work for him/her just fine. As it should.. ;-)

-finish your degree
-next goal is to get ATP as soon as possible, in the current hiring environment a lot of doors will open after that.
- I flew at Compass and there were a lot of pilots hired that just got their ATPs, same at other regionals.
-depending on which regional you go to, you could upgrade in 2-3 years or less. many things affect upgrade time so don't pick a company just because today they have the quickest upgrade.
best thing is to pick one that has a base close to where you live.
trust me, your life will be much happier.
-as soon as you are able, jumpseat on one of the cargo guys, the type of flying is not for everyone, don't go to a cargo airline just because they have a good pay scale.

do you guys have anybody with heavy type rating and international experience but less than 1000 PIC?

Are you a FedEx pilot? I’d like to hear more about the Purple Runway program !

-finish your degree.
-finish your degree.
-finish your degree.
I made that mistake and now I wish I finished it earlier.

Maybe you can help provide some guidance for us FedEx-hopefuls...

Is Mountain Air Cargo (MAC) or Empire Airlines the best route to FedEx?
-or-
Would a regional job be the better option?

Ultimately, whichever is going to provide you with 1000 TPIC, so in an industry where seniority is everything a 1 or 2 year difference between start dates means missing out on a substantial chunk of change...

If you were in our shoes today (single, no kids, willing to relocate) which route would you personally take?

All feedback is helpful! Thanks in advance