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- - FedEx to United (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/united/116554-fedex-united.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by opt0712 (Post 3271829)

2020 was definitely an anomaly, but one that shows itself in this industry every 10 years. So you can plan on at least three more downturns of some sort in your career. That said, do you want to be at an airline that will furlough you, or go to an airline that has never furloughed?

Didn't Delta and UPS used to say that?

should we clarify "PAX airline" ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by hercretired (Post 3271830)

Didn't Delta and UPS used to say that?

should we clarify "PAX airline" ?

Since the OP was referring to United and FedEx I don't think we need to clarify anything. Regardless of what you're flying one airline has furloughed, the other airline hasn't.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pilots (Post 3271788)

Reviving this. CJO at both. I live in Denver, with no intentions of moving to a FX base unless I find the right partner for a future world tour of bases. Curious what the thoughts are on driving to work for a legacy vs commuting to FX. I’d retire top 80 at FedEx and top 2-300 at United it seems.

Times at United are unprecedented with seniority. Literally if half the pilots are cut in 2030, I’d still have very good seniority. In the past this seems like a no brainer to go FX, but the seniority and living in base at UA seems enticing. I’m a QOL chaser, not a shiny jet, route, or money chaser. I’ve already adapted the philosophy of putting myself in a 65 year olds shoes and asking myself if I wish I would have worked more over my career. The answer is most likely no.

The whole pax vs no pax is negligible to me. I care about the quality of my off days.

Thoughts of who you’d go with if you were in my shoes?

Like other have said, the chance of getting furloughed is likely lower at FedEx; however, you'll never be able to sit reserve in domicile which you could likely within a year at United. And if as it sounds, your goal is QoL, you can get full pay with doing very little for as long as you like. And in the summers when flying gets busy, you can bid a line when you ant more control of your schedule.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThumbsUp (Post 3271844)

And could go work at TK as an Instructor if that’s to they’re liking in terms of QoL

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pilots (Post 3271788)

Another interesting way of deciding if what you say is true: if FedEx had a DEN base, which would you choose? In other words, if you didn’t have to commute to either, where would you go? This will get to the heart of whether it just comes to commuting. If it does, then your choice has been made.

If you’re searching for QOL you’ll have a better time in my opinion at FX. I was in the same shoes as you living in a UA base, and I looked at all the data - with my big decisions being stability and QOL. I’ve never worked a weekend or holiday simply because our schedules don’t really have many departures on those dates. With all the double deadheads, you can be a 1K at United driving to the airport with a paid commute to work sitting in first class. Again, it’s only my opinion, but looking back over the past year and into the future, I was glad I wasn’t stressing about whether or not I’d be furloughed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by opt0712 (Post 3271833)

Since the OP was referring to United and FedEx I don't think we need to clarify anything. Regardless of what you're flying one airline has furloughed, the other airline hasn't.

No airline has ever furloughed until they had to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KonaJoe (Post 3271960)

No airline has ever furloughed until they had to.

Ok. Still doesn't change the fact that stability (QOL) wise, would the OP rather go to an airline that has shown to have furloughed multiple times over a 30 year career, or one that has never had to do so.

Or one that may be single pilot within 30 years?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmeg13021 (Post 3271980)

Or one that may be single pilot within 30 years?

Definitely a possibility, but guess which other "airlines" will be right behind us? The OP and the rest of us will be senior enough, you'll have the luxury to decide to retire instead of fly single pilot ops.