UPS Question

[DE727UPS]

We can have our bids put in our mailbox, as well. Problem is, I never go to Louisville where I'm based. They will comat them to the various gateways but that system isn't terribly reliable if you live in a place like Spokane, WA.

We fly with the same crew for the 56 day bid period unless someone has vacation, training, or calls in sick.

We don't use preferential bidding. The company makes up the lines and pairings and then the union scheduling committe gets involved with trying to tweak them as much as possible to make them better.

Just heard that do to a shortage of crews on the Airbus, the union has refused to be involved in trying to make the lines better on the next bid for that fleet. They don't want to be blamed, or have anything to do with, the disaster that those lines are going to be like. Of course, there is no hiring in sight.

 

[seagull]

At FedEx, we have the option of getting the bidpack in our crew mailbox or having them sent to our home at no cost to us. Additionally, they are available in all the hubs and domiciles, stacked up in various locations, and they also distribute them to key international locations. In addition to that, we can also get them electronically in several different formats off our website, from PDF to .txt files that can be used in various personal automatic bidding programs that are available for purchase -- including one written by one of our pilots.

We don't use any PBS, although the company does want it, most of the pilots do not.

 

[seagull]

In terms of flying with someone all month, techically speaking, on the 727, A300 and DC-10, two/three people do bid a line together. The % of time that they actually end up flying together all month is fairly low due to vacations, swapping trips, sick, etc.

On the MD-11/10 fleet, the Capt and F/O lines are different due to the relief pilot trips in both being separate. You can end up with the same person all month if you bid single departure lines, and there are some that have a couple departures that are the same too, but not that many.

 

[Cachon]

thanks
seagull for all the info.
the more I learn about fedex, the more it becomes my dream job.
seagull were you guys at fedex affected in terms of layoff during this downturn in the industry?

 

[seagull]

No layoffs, we have been hiring a bit throughout. We did a lot of hiring through 2002, 2003 just had a few smaller classes, I think 50-100 new pilots. They are talking about hiring another 80+ this spring, sounds pretty likely, but never know. Company is affected by economics, but nothing like the people carriers, and there is a big commitment to the air-side of the house.