FedEx Express Question?

PA44

New Member
Does anyone know what the quals for becoming a pilot with FedEx express are? Ive seen the caravans? around many airports, and was just wondering where i can get more info. Are they the quals listed on the fedex homepage under pilot careers? I was under the impression those were the req's for the jets.
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The Caravans are not owned/operated/flown by Fedex. They are owned and operated by other companies that have a contract with FedEx to carry freight. It's their version of a commuter so to speak. Just like Chautauqua Airlines - they fly ERJ's in US Airways colors(and for alot of other airlines), same thing with Mesa and all of the majors they fly for. To find out the minimums for the Caravans you have to find out who owns them and then look at their website - I don't remember any of the company names right off the top of my head. I've seen Caravan jobs posted and in today's market even the Caravans require some pretty hefty times(ie most I saw required some turbine experience if not turbine PIC time)

Jason
 
I "think" Mountain Air Cargo and Empire are at least two. Most of the mins Ive seen are 2000TT with prior 135 experience.
 
How valuable would single engine turbine PIC time be? Say in comparison with being an FO on a small twin perhaps with Ameriflight etc? Of course neither is an option and ideally one would like to have a bunch of multi PIC but how valuable is the single time to prospective employers?
 
I believe the FedEx Feeder Caravans are owned by FedEx, but operated and staffed by contractors, Mountain Air Cargo, Baron Aviation, and Empire are some of the companies.
To do this type of work requires ( as aloft mentioned ) at least 135 IFR PIC minimums ( FedEx doesn't want any more delays or cancellations than are necessary, and trying to do the job VFR increases those kinds of problems ), but I believe FedEx requires more than those basic minimums, one of the companies ( Baron ) required at least 2000 hours PIC time last I checked.
The starting pay to fly the FedEx feeders is decent for GA, it's around the 30K 1st year mark, and I've met a few Pilots who have been flying their feeders for years and are happy to do so. It would be nice if flying their feeders meant you were an employee of FedEx, then you could just move up to the better paying aircraft in the fleet, but unfortunately that is not the case.
UPS is another case though, they put their feeder routes up for bid to 135 outfits to do the work with their own equipment, and the Pilots don't usually make as decent a living as the FedEx feeder crowd, some do but not all of them.
The Caravan is a pretty solid airplane though, there's no shame in flying one for a living.
 
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I believe the FedEx Feeder Caravans are owned by FedEx, but operated and staffed by contractors, Mountain Air Cargo, Baron Aviation, and Empire are some of the companies.

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You are correct.

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To do this type of work requires at least 135 IFR PIC minimums ( FedEx doesn't want any more delays or cancellations than are necessary, and trying to do the job VFR increases those kinds of problems ), but I believe FedEx requires more than those basic minimums, one of the companies ( Baron ) required at least 2000 hours PIC time last I checked.
The starting pay to fly the FedEx feeders is decent for GA, it's around the 30K 1st year mark, and I've met a few Pilots who have been flying their feeders for years and are happy to do so. It would be nice if flying their feeders meant you were an employee of FedEx, then you could just move up to the better paying aircraft in the fleet, but unfortunately that is not the case.


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When I flew cargo out of PHX, the FEDEX feeders were all flown by pilots from Empire; and they were happy with their jobs. Pay and lifestyle was great for them. The 208s they flew were nice equipment too.

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UPS is another case though, they put their feeder routes up for bid to 135 outfits to do the work with their own equipment, and the Pilots don't usually make as decent a living as the FedEx feeder crowd, some do but not all of them.
The Caravan is a pretty solid airplane though, there's no shame in flying one for a living.

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Exactly. I flew UPS feeder with my company in a Caravan, and I definately made less money than the FEDEX (Empire) guys. Not only that, when UPS went on strike in Sept 1997, I ended up getting laid off. Don't know if the same would happen at FEDEX. Of course, being a full-up FEDEX employee wouldn't be bad at all either.

MD
 
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