IPA vs FQS positions
 

At the UPS job fair in Dallas, Dan Thomas from UPS HR briefed that they are hiring both positions. Would any UPS pilots mind educating an outsider looking in about the differences between the line pilot (IPA) and management pilot (FQS) positions? I've caught some bits and pieces on this site that the FQS is a bad deal. I heard a comparison analogy of an Officer / enlisted relationship in the military...

Thanks in advance

This should be fun....

1.) no union protection, no contract so your compensation is at their whim.

2.) you fly to far limits with no ability to refuse.

3.) no control over where you live or what equipment you fly.

4.) you are hired into the left seat and qualified for both seats,
You are paid less than a second year IPA fo and have no defined benefit pension plan.

5.) you are expected to work every week, usually only weekends off.

You will be forced to cross picket lines, write reports on, and harass other pilots on a weekly basis.

In other words if management is the only option you have walk away.

A complete insult / slap in the face, to those of us who were Officers in the military!

Unless, of course, you are describing the "kiss ass, stab you in the back, get promoted at all cost, minqualed, suck in the jet but excel at queep, wouldn't want to go to war with you under any circumstances" type of Officers that we all knew and just loved.

I have a good friend who has been at UPS for around 20 years and we just had this conversation. In the past I had described it as Guard vs Active Duty, but that's not quite right either. It's similar in that the FQS will not have a lot of control over where they do their job or when the company will want them to move. In past there was significant financial incentives to become a FQS; instant CA along with the pay and pension. My friend told me that new FQS are not paid as much as line CAs and they don't have a pension. If anyone was ever borderline about FQS in the past, I don't think there is any reason to become one today. There are too many other jobs out there with more predictability.

3 a.) You will be "promoted" to various flying and non-flying positions within the company and around the country as a "reward" for excellent job performance

IPA..Independent pilot association

FQS..Future qualified scab

.The difference between IPA and FQS is like waking up every morning to this
IPAhttp://http://i925.photobucket.com/a...ps9lohpmue.jpg


And this FQS
http://http://i925.photobucket.com/a...pswe9z1eq0.jpg

The better job in terms of pay, schedule, vacation, QOL, security, retirement, and self respect is line pilot. And by a HUGE margin. In this market, taking a FQS job over any other slot at a major is beyond foolish and it is my opinion that the guys getting on nowadays aren't legacy material. Even so, there are so many non-legacy jobs that trump the FQS gig that you have to wonder what these guys are thinking taking this job. Especially since the pilot group has getting them out of the flight deck as a top priority and made gains in this last contract in that direction.