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MEMguy

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Posts posted by MEMguy

  1. 7 hours ago, brabus said:

    @MEMguy Great rundown. I had no desire to circumnavigate the world/fly nights most of the time, so that’s what led me to the pax side. However, seems that part of cargo does not have to be what you always do if so chosen. Too committed seniority-wise now, but wish I would have had this type of input when making decisions 4 years ago. Certainly good info for those still considering the direction they want to take. 

    @brabus no problem. Your seniority is definitely something to think about. But if FedEx and the lifestyle is what you’re after, please don’t consider yourself pot-committed. I just gave my “PE” (recommendation) to an old Sq buddy who’s closing in on 5 years at UAL. He was hired this summer and starting soon. Captain I’m with now was 10+ years at DAL. Tons of SWA/AA coming over too with varying levels of seniority. But regardless if you’re senior and in domicile with any of the big 6, that’s so tuff to beat. 

  2. 20 minutes ago, brabus said:

    Question for cargo guys (out of curiosity): all the cargo guys I know fly a circle around the world for ~14 days straight every month, so anecdotally it seems like that’s the “standard.” Clearly there are deviations from the standard, so curious what those are (besides reserves). Are there options to do a month that look a little more like pax (e.g. 3-4 day trip = transcon to a couple destinations and back home, or similar to one international destination, then back home)? If so, what kind of seniority and rate of occurrence is seen to make these happen?

    I’m at FedEx and live in Memphis. I choose to fly short trips (2-3 days) or out and backs where I’m home either every nite or sleeping in my own house 80-90% of the month. If you’re a commuter (which most of our pilots are), then they tend to bid trips that are 6ish days on and a week off. A lot of them fly double dead heads (or front/backend DHs) to prevent coming thru MEM as much as possible. I’m not aware of too many pilots that circle the world in 14 days with our company but there may be 777 folks that have done so? Regardless with just a smidge of seniority (just about a year) you can literally fly whatever footprint you’d like. It may not be the most efficient or have the nicest pairings, but you’ll be able to fly the days of the month you’d like.
     

    Additionally, we have the ability to trade and drop trips that increases your flexibility during the month. And…our vacation system is THE BEST of the airlines. Which is a huge advantage to getting key dates off and knocking out trips.  

  3. 5 hours ago, Ryder1587 said:

    United announced today they are starting to hire immediately.  Once all the majors start the train the USAF is going to see the pain that they are causing themselves.  I just hope I bail before any type of stop loss is implemented.  

    Can’t wait for the Air Force to fall flat on its face. Again. 

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  4. If you get hired by an airline take it. No doubt. Cargo is only hiring for now. But the other 4 pax will soon. ASAM/IDE sucks. Staff sucks. But if you can’t get hired I guess go the school/staff route...then hope you have an assignment that you’re flying before retiring/separating. 

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  5. Just finished closing on our new construction home in Memphis, TN.  I'm recently retired and used a VA loan.  I searched around for a lot of rates and companies, but gave Marty at Trident a call last year to get his take on my situation.  He put me in touch with Jon Kulak.  In the meantime, I spoke with SEVERAL other companies.  As other BO posters have stated, Jon and his team hit it out of the park.  They constantly kept me and my builder on track, which is difficult to do with some builders who are inexperienced with the VA/FHA process.  Jon, Bri, Lisa, and Taylor literally hand-carried my builder thru the process and we successfully closed last week.  Other items Jon and his team did...re-negotiated my rate, extended my lock, "translated" the VA paperwork between my builder and the Atlanta regional office, and constantly kept me on glideslope with the details that would otherwise derail most new-home purchases. 

    Bottom line...Jon gets it and will get YOUR situation.  He's Air Force (MC-130s), SWA pilot, and most importantly a GREAT dude.  I don't know how many times he either called or returned my call during his turns out of ATL, BWI, AUS, MDW, etc.  He (and his team) will treat you like an all-star. 

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