Cargo pilots vs passenger pilots

[Prospective_Pilot]

Sorry to say I had never heard of BAX Global until you mentioned it. But after doing a search on google I was able to find out more about them (only problem is most cargo airlines don't have a great deal of info on their websites). Where are BAX Global's major bases located and where do they fly from and to? And do you happen to be a DC-8 pilot?

-Amos

 

[Snow]

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With the exception of FedEx and to some degree UPS, the revenue in cargo doesn't justify the price tag of new aircraft.

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Is it more the fact that packages don't care if the plane is new or not?

 

[davetheflyer]

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But davetheflyer has to get props for the seatbelt sign, and of course the good looking flight attendents!


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He only said flight attendants. There was no mention of them being attractive or not. As for the announcements, I don't think they can hear you with those props buzzing. Now that CRJ...that is a quiet airplane.

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Our In Flight Dept has been doing a much better job of hiring attractive female FAs lately. Of course, even the unattractive women and flamers are happy to fetch us a drink and some Cheddarfetti. We even have a few cool, straight male FAs who are fun to fly with. Several of them are working on their pilot licenses.

Some of our PA systems are better than others, even with the props. It just depends on the plane.

I jumpseated for the first time on a CRJ the other day and was surprised by the amount of noise in the cockpit, mostly from the wind. It is pretty quiet in back though.

 

[ready2fly]

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Of course, even the unattractive women and flamers...

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Tacky, Dave.

 

[I_Money]

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I jumpseated for........

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Jumpsat?

 

[davetheflyer]

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Quote:
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Of course, even the unattractive women and flamers...


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Tacky, Dave.




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It was meant as a joke.

 

[Waples15]

BAX Global is a business to business company so it's not surprising that you haven't heard of them. If you're in transportation/logistics you would know them well. I worked there for 22 years in a management capacity... I flew a desk. It was common knowledge in the company that ATI or Air Transport International was owned by BAX. However their web site shows that it is an LLC. So I'm not sure what the business relationship is. ATI is run by a former USAF General Hobson. He turned the company around and I believe they made 8 million last year. This is a good man to work for as I'm told. I enjoyed working with the crews when I worked with them in Denver.

Anyway, here is the web site for both BAX and ATI. Interestingly you wont find a peep about either company at either web site. But you will find plenty of press about it so I know I wasn't imagining it.

One thing you might find interesting about ATI is that they fly DC-8 combi's. They also have flight attendants! I've never heard of anyone else doing this with DC-8's. Many a soldier has flown on these birds. So give it a look. You'll probably find the ATI site more interesting, especially if you're an old freight dog like me.
Dave

http://www.baxglobal.com/US.asp
http://www.airtransport.cc/

 

[Prospective_Pilot]

Thanks for the info and links! Guess most their DC-8's have been fitted with modern engines by the looks of them.


-Amos

 

[seagull]

FedEx does lean more towards military than most carriers. The quals are about the toughest out there, but then, we don't have to wear brown uniforms or hats, and we can attend recurrent ground school in casual (not business casual) attire, so I can wear jeans if I want to.

you can see the requirements at pilot.fedex.com (no www).

Very stable, good profits and fast growth. My f/o on my last trip is going to school to be an MD-11 captain in 2 weeks -- he was hired in 1995. That's right, 8 years to the left seat, international MD-11 captain. So, there are more advantages than just stability. Oh, and I haven't flown at night in 4 months, my next trip is domestic all daylight, and the one after that is international, around the world, Paris, Subic, Seoul, Taipei, Anchorage and back, so that will be about half day, half night, too many time zones for it not to be!

 

[SkyKingRon]

Have fun on your trips Seagul. For the most part, do you prefer to haul boxes or meat-puppets? Boxes don't bitch huh?

Sounds like Fed-Ex is a good outfit to fly for, right?

 

[DE727UPS]

As seagull is so happy to point out...flying for fedex has some advantages over flying for UPS...the points he makes are correct and he left out they get leather jackets, too. We hope to catch up, and surpass them, on our next contract but time will tell. I'd challenge seagull with this fact, however. By the end of May I'll have flown 40 hours and got paid for 375. We have some nice things in our contract, too...

 

[MikeD]

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As seagull is so happy to point out...flying for fedex has some advantages over flying for UPS...the points he makes are correct and he left out they get leather jackets, too. We hope to catch up, and surpass them, on our next contract but time will tell. I'd challenge seagull with this fact, however. By the end of May I'll have flown 40 hours and got paid for 375. We have some nice things in our contract, too...

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What's the difference between UPS adn Fedex regards international vs domestic pay and widebody vs narrowbody pay; if any?

 

[DE727UPS]

Not really sure cause I don't know the fedex contract well. The have a much better deal on positioning commuting crewmembers with commercial tickets. A feature we hope emulate on our next contract. When our current contract was signed in 98, I recall our 727 hourly rate was better than fedex's but we were way behind in the widebody catagory. That's because UPS has one pay scale for all equipment while fedex follows the more normal scheme of paying more for larger equipment. Having one scale keeps training costs down as guys aren't always looking to upgrade to a larger plane to make more money as they gain seniority. The bad thing about the UPS scheme is if you're on the MD11 at UPS, you're not making near what a fedex guy makes. The only reason to fly the Maddog at UPS would be cause you like international flying, not for extra money. International does have a $6 per hour override for captains, which is pretty typical in the industry. I don't like time zones so will stick to the 727 and my BFI-YVR trip....hope it lasts a while.