Precontact

FedEx does, as do most large corporations. How better to get some face time with your favorite senator? So how do our guys get around? Delta airlines? Just curious.

Beaker

Aren't those the guys that are the low # (higher) priority jumpseaters?

Heard a story about a senior guy that was refused travel by the Capt because he was not a pilot or mechanic.

cessnapilot

http://ups.com/pressroom/us/speeches...65,659,00.html
http://ups.com/pressroom/us/speeches...65,659,00.html

I found this when doing research for my interview...

"The fourth trait we value is being a team-player.


Within the UPS culture, you don’t see celebrity CEOs or superstars.


I mentioned that UPS operates the 8th largest airline in the world. But we have no corporate jets. Senior executives fly commercial and in most cases…coach.


There’s no executive dining room. And everyone calls everyone by their first name -- from the package-handler on the loading dock to the CEO. Everyone respects the role each employee plays in achieving common goals.
"

Jetjok

It was a great article that you highlighted and well worth reading. Mr. Hill put a lot of time and effort into it and it showed. By the way, I forgot that UPS was founded in 1907. Congratulations, who would have thought that a company which painted everything it owned, brown, could survive and thrive for 100 years.

One of the things that most impressed me when I worked there was the fact that there was no executive parking. The entire hub parking lot in Louisville was on a first-come, first-served basis. I really liked that. From what I remember, there were no busses, etc. So if you got there late, and had to park at the back end of the lot, you had yourself quite a walk. Conversely, one of the things that least impressed me was the total lack of rest facilities in the SDF hub. What facilities do you guys have now?

As for UPS not having a commercial aviation branch, it's not surprising. Mr. Hill mentions that most managers, if they need to travel, will do so, commercially, and in coach. When I was there, we did a lot of carrying of managers on our freighters. Does that still happen? We did the same thing here at FedEx, until 9/11 at least. Since then, I've not seen much employee travel on our jets. I always wondered if it was cost efficient to have these managers, staying up all night, then going into meetings, with almost no rest. Wonder how many times they were taken advantage of, because they weren't sharp, due to lack of sleep? As well, the lack of appropriate working space (in coach, or first class for that matter) would mean that these executives cannot continue to be productive as they sit in their commercial seat. A big waste of time. It would seem to me that many major corporations continue to support an aviation department, with corporate jets, maintenance, and pilots, because it is actually cost effective, when it allows these senior executives to get to where they need to be, at the time they need to be there, and to be productive along the way. Perhaps UPS is rather shortsighted in their reasoning for not having a corporate flight department.

Trash Hauler 1

Yep,
We have a Bus capt that has refused to carry the president of the airline on the j/s. He's not a pilot (probably can't even spell pilot). They don't know quite how to handle the boy!

TH1

Huck

I'm sorry but that's just dumbass.

6 multi-million-dollar VP's heading to New York or someplace, and they're crammed in the back of an RJ?

I used to be an engineer for the DOD, and if we had three or more people going somewhere we always got a charter quote. A charter could usually beat three or more coach fares....

Flying coach may impress the Teamsters, but savvy stockholders would rather their execs spend their time a little more productively.

Freightpuppy

I could see them flying first class but noone needs a business jet. Sorry.

FlyerJosh

I disagree. I don't know exactly what the CEO or other upper end managers make at UPS, but time is money and productivity. I think I saw that he made somewhere around 6.5 million with salary and bonuses.

Let's assume that at the CEO needs to be in Providence, RI for whatever reason. There's no immediate UPS flight that will get him there (if there even is one at all). To get there he has to connect through a hub. So off he goes on United to IAD.

He has to leave his office to arrive at the airport at least 1 hour prior to his departure. Then sits around waiting for his flight. He can't necessarily conduct business from the airport- it's not exactly an environment you want your CEO discussing important (and proprietary) info over the phone.

He then boards his flight for the 1:25 hour flight to IAD. Land there, sit around for 45 minutes before connecting to another flight to PVD. Another 1:15 and he's now in PVD. Total time from office to airport in PVD? 4:45.

Comparatively, an executive working for a company with a corporate flight department has to make the same trip. Even with a last minute call I guarantee you it travel time will be less than 4:45:

Office to airport: 30 minutes
Boarding: Immediate - 5 minutes
Flight to PVD: 2:00
Total travel time: 2:35.

Difference: 2:10 minutes.
CEO Salary: $6.5 million (or $2193/hour, calculated on 6 day work week and 9.5 hrs a day)

Productivity savings alone: $4751.50

Time is just one reason to have a business jet. After flying one for a living I can see many other additional reasons for executives (and well off individuals) to travel by one. There's obviously enough reasons out there to justify them (as evidence by the number of large and midsize companies that operate corporate aircraft).

brownwhalerider

100 + private sleep rooms to be built in the ASC over the next year. They will occupy the entire 2nd and 3rd floor of the ASC, with a "hotel type operation" where you check in and out.

brownwhalerider

Problem is our CEO (Mike Eskew) only makes a base salary of around $450,000. In the latest USA Today article on CEO compensation, he was the lowest paid by far. So using your numbers it's only around $150 savings. UPS' policy if it does not pay for itself in 2 years its a no.