MoosePileit

4 to 5 in each seat per MD Didn't go up on bodies w/ the 5 ex Lufts.

Do lots of 90k loads, still, though on short domestics.

airplanes

I’m new here but is the general feeling that most of FedEx’s current problems are not applicable to us? They are looking pretty bleak for the foreseeable future from what I can tell.

CardboardCutout

I'm also relatively new here, but imho, most aren't. We have good scope protection, the best union anywhere, a very unified group, and an employer which, for all of its many faults, has *always* run things very close to the bone, making "trimming the fat" in the way that FedEx is now experiencing impossible.

We are, of course, still vulnerable to downturns in the economy, the increase of trade-protectionism, any geopolitical conflict, etc.

Obviously, if the FedEx group vote in this turd of a TA, that makes our job in the next set of negotiations much more difficult, as well, but at least on the business of moving boxes side, I do not think that we are anywhere near as vulnerable as they are.

tnkrdrvr

The slow down in shipping volume both domestically and across the Pacific hurts us both. However, UPS runs a much leaner operation that has been optimized to move freight in the most economical method that meets service guarantees. That means a lot of “air” volume moves by truck domestically. FedEx has defaulted to flying volume for most of their history. It’s how they end ran the Interstate Commerce Commission to service the whole US at a time when UPS was still having to jump through hoops for each state it added service in. That advantage back then resulted in an airline first culture that built a more expensive to run operation. UPS has had double or more the profit margin of FedEx for the last few decades. Long story short, it appears that the new management over there is trying to pump up margins by cutting costs. No idea how it will work out, but consider our heavily unionized workforce and in housing of both the ground and air operation is the exact opposite of FedEx’s corporate philosophy.

threeighteen

If we accept this TA at FedEx it might hurt you guys in the next round of negotiations, just like how your contract extension hurt us when we were negotiating for higher rates for our contract... our company kept coming back and saying they didn't want to pay more than UPS rates even after DL lifted the bar.

Beyond that, the rest of our problems are due to ALPA refusing to negotiate better scope.

MoosePileit

No student of pattern bargaining liked seeing our extension raise based on CBO inflation predictions. You'd been a few more points behind had it been stuffed.

A student of chess points out ANY added NO vote to the FDX TA is a blessing if it fails to pass.

threeighteen

Nice work cutting out the part of my post that explains how your contract extension actually hurt us in pattern bargaining instead of helping us.

I sincerely hope we will shoot this down and bring home the real bacon instead of rolling over.

MoosePileit

I was being polite. The post says you are no student of facts and history.

Had the extension been voted down, you'd be further behind. Your post had no point.

Pax are making up for the 9/11 lost generation. It is now seen as much as a separate industry as it is a shared tide in patterns. We'll see how this ages in a few more days, Leroy.

threeighteen

Sorry, but I disagree. Pilots are pilots. Our skills translate almost directly. Companies are using seniority against us, and when you make points like that, you're only helping them.

MoosePileit

Facts are facts, used as points, or not.

Your logic to emotion ratio has a 32.3333% chance of success, repeating, of course.