Vito

Commando,
I Thought the same thing, but as a 757 domestic guy, I'm not complaining. My guess is more 757 domestic Guys have put in their retirement paperwork, than Zguys.

Pilot7576

Vito,

We can only hope....

Commando

Or new gateways? Can we imagine such a thing happening at UPS? Where there is one new domestic gateway opened every decade.

Lets look at where they may open ones. Dreaming here.

Tallahassee, Islip, Rochester, Grand Forks, Rapid City, Nashville, Savannah, Bangor, etc....

These cities all have FDX planes landing daily. Some have three 757's parked there.


Don't ask me about the Intl. gateways. That list would be too long.

mrvmo

Possibly new gateways.....hopefully....IMO a more likely situation is some of the gateways that have through flights might be ready for their own devoted plane. For example, we currently operate SDF - CID - DSM.......It's possible that volume in places like DSM & CID are starting to warrant their own A/C instead of 1 for both cities. This would definitely require both more planes and pilots.

FrankTheTank

Actually we (FDX) are shutting down Grand Forks and moved to Fargo.. No dog in your fight; just clarification. Fly safe

767pilot

There was a plan two years ago to split up some Europe cities where volume has grown like Rome and venice. Bud and Vie split but that was it. I don't think we have the metal to make some of the changes that are needed in the system. Don;t forget that we get IST-TLV at the end of the year too

mrvmo

Just thinking with the arrival of 14....possibly 28 74-8s......the cascade effect of a/c down on the routes that the 747s replace would free up a/c to do what we are talking about.....I guess that wouldn't happen tho till late 2017 tho.

Commando

The cascade affect may not be truly realized until late 2018. This I think is when we will have 8 new -8's on property. And that's if they don't park the 3 old junk ones that is rumored.

Also, does anyone know if any of the Sim or Ground School Training for the upcoming 747 bid will be done off campus? It's tempting to go to a growing fleet and gain 40% seniority. But would like to train in Montreal, Denver, etc.

Freight Dog

Below some info from "in the know" sources last week, and my own opinions:

1. The bottleneck in training next year will be OE (IOE, line training, etc)
2. The Hogan assessment, the bear that it is, is industry standard. Most airlines use it
3. A 4-year-degree is still essential, however some with associates have been hired (but they have lots of heavy international time)
4. UPS expects 85 pilots to retire next year. I predict it's far more than that. With the stock market at record highs and many pilots reaching their 30-year mark, an uptick in the number who will leave
5. 777F orders *could* be announced in 2017
6. Time-to-captain at UPS will drop drastically after system bid closes. I predict 2006 DOHs
7. For those new-hires in 2017, once off probation your pay rate will be $176/hr ($171,000/year guarantee) in 2018
8. Morale very high right now on the line with fresh contract in place and largest system bid in 20+ years. Even those who have been arguing for years that UPS is shrinking the airline into oblivion have been quiet lately
9. I've noticed UPS chief pilots and upper airline management doing a lot of roadshows lately to engage the pilots, a first
10. New Trip Board: Is it just me, or is this just a dumping ground for bad trips... and is why few are picking the trips up?

767pilot

Why would you dump a good trip? It's usefulness is hampered with the lack of a tie in to the full open time trade /drop system but it's a start. The union keeps figures and the trips are getting picked up.