FedEx closing CGN, LAX, and ANC MD11. New system bid for all of the changes.

GypsyPilot said:
You guys are seriously awesome!

This thread has done more to lift my spirits and change my perspective than anything else. I really appreciate it, and boy did I need it. Thank you to each of you!
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I also think you’d be short-sighted to leave after 5 years as now all you have to do is ride the wave until age 55 and you can retire with a pension. Even if the company’s ultimate goal is to shrink to more profitability by utilizing a hybrid UPS/Amazon model at the detriment of us pilots, you always have that to fall back on (so long as the company doesn’t go in bankruptcy). You also start getting 3 weeks vacation with your longevity.

Someone with less than 2 years at FedEx has a tougher decision to make. I’ve lost a lot of faith in the direction of this company since being hired and I don’t have any trust that they value pilots like a passenger carrier. At least at Delta their sole purpose is to fly airplanes, so even with their ups and downs you don’t have to fear Ed Bastian saying we’re going to reduce our air network and bus-fly-bus the people across America.
 
AMH said:
I also think you’d be short-sighted to leave after 5 years as now all you have to do is ride the wave until age 55 and you can retire with a pension. Even if the company’s ultimate goal is to shrink to more profitability by utilizing a hybrid UPS/Amazon model at the detriment of us pilots, you always have that to fall back on (so long as the company doesn’t go in bankruptcy). You also start getting 3 weeks vacation with your longevity.

Someone with less than 2 years at FedEx has a tougher decision to make. I’ve lost a lot of faith in the direction of this company since being hired and I don’t have any trust that they value pilots like a passenger carrier. At least at Delta their sole purpose is to fly airplanes, so even with their ups and downs you don’t have to fear Ed Bastian saying we’re going to reduce our air network and bus-fly-bus the people across America.
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I’m that guy with less than two years and there’s no decision to make. Spend 10yrs in 135 and you’ll really see what it’s like to be treated like a replaceable piece of garbage constantly squeezed to somehow make a company profitable.
 
SlumTodd_Millionaire said:
You can really understand how crazy the industry has gotten and how bad the pilot shortage really is when people start pretending that FedEx is a bad place to work. I’m starting to understand @ZapBrannigan and his feeling that kids nowadays don’t understand what real airline struggle is like.
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The highly sought after jobs now are so accessible that pilots considering bouncing among them once things aren't optimal at the one.

Had covid really produced the carnage it could have, I think they'd all have a different point of view.
 
GypsyPilot said:
You guys are seriously awesome!

This thread has done more to lift my spirits and change my perspective than anything else. I really appreciate it, and boy did I need it. Thank you to each of you!
Click to expand...
People are going to continue to overspend and buy crap they don’t need. If you were on probation, I’d consider leaving, but you would be crazy to leave with 5 years. This is just a bump in the road.
 
SlumTodd_Millionaire said:
You can really understand how crazy the industry has gotten and how bad the pilot shortage really is when people start pretending that FedEx is a bad place to work. I’m starting to understand @ZapBrannigan and his feeling that kids nowadays don’t understand what real airline struggle is like.
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Ha. Perhaps, although I’m in my mid-40s and have been through the aviation meat grinder of the mid-2000s so I don’t know if I’d qualify. The amount of crappy, unsafe jobs I had before SkyWest still makes me grateful I made it through without any accidents or violations.

Common wisdom says never go to an airline for a base. FedEx has had an Asia base for as long as I can remember, since the 90s anyway. First Subic Bay, then Hong Kong.

I received a CJO at United before FedEx, and living in and being from Denver it was a fairly obvious choice to go there. But then I got the offer at FedEx, with HKG as an option for me. My wife and I contemplated the decision for quite some time, but finally decided that living in Asia would be a fun new chapter of our life.

We absolutely loved Hong Kong, and we were intent on staying until I retired. Unfortunately that didn’t work out, with COVID and China politics leading to that base closure.

But coincident with the news of the base closing was my ability to upgrade to 76 CA in OAK. We were bummed about HKG, but being able to upgrade to a west coast base was wonderful news! I’ve only been a fully checked out CA since Sept, but it’s been great fun and I’ve enjoyed every minute.

So when this last bit of news came out, it was hard for me. Every reason I had for choosing this airline over United has evaporated. I’m back living in Denver, doing long 12-14 day trips every month which is also not what I wanted. I am also concerned about the direction FedEx is headed, and I’m not inspired by our leadership.

Ultimately it’s on me for choosing an airline for a base. Had I known what was going to happen, United would’ve been a better choice. But at least now, the (hopefully!) worst case is that I’ll now be a senior widebody FO with a pretty decent schedule.
 
I think your reasons for picking FedEx were misplaced; but the decision to go there was still the wise one. Purple and Brown will always be the most stable flying jobs on earth.
 
Brian29 said:
I’m that guy with less than two years and there’s no decision to make. Spend 10yrs in 135 and you’ll really see what it’s like to be treated like a replaceable piece of garbage constantly squeezed to somehow make a company profitable.
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Come on, I know you miss those 2AM callouts to BOG, live leg to TEB and the 91 repo back to base.
 
In all seriousness though, they were incredible opportunities at the time that made me a better pilot than I could have ever hoped to be. I wouldn’t go back and change any of it but I’ll never lose the perspective it has given me towards this career.
I don’t make it here without having been there first.
 
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@Brian29 I’m happy to see you at your dream job and feel privileged to have been part of your journey. Also, you’re pretty okay to drink beer with :cool:
 
Do what makes YOU happy. Not what some random sampling of people on the internet think is best for your life.

I’m a CGN CA, I’ve been here six years. And I just applied to Delta. I do not believe in the direction of this company anymore.

Last year I flew with a new hire who spent 6yrs at Delta and came to FedEx. He did not believe in the direction of his.

This is an amazing job. But sometimes it can be a really weird career.
 
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