FDXLAG

Spell checker said it was OK.

MD11HOG

Are you hawking LK's job?

Albief15

1. Not true. Managers think about doing whatever they can to please the guy above them so they'll get promoted. I don't think like a manager, I think like an OWNER. I'm a guy who runs two businesses...one makes money and money loses money hand over fist. I have probably fired or let go more people in the last year than about 90% of the FDX crew force. I am very sensitive to controlling costs, as failing to do loses jobs. I have also cut a host of services (specifically horse boarding) as the margins are too low to warrant the headaches. Anytime you get margins less than about 8-9%, you start looking at other things to do with capital. While the "real" numbers and "real" costs can be argued, knowing where a company makes money or does NOT make money is important. ALPA E&FA are pretty good at looking at that stuff, and so far...they indicate what FDX says is basically the truth.

There are certainly some "stupid" and unsavory issues with the optimizer. I think we can tweak and adjust some of the more onerous issues. However, just saying "it stinks its not like it was in 1998 and we need to set it back..." probably is also unrealistic. I'm not telling you that because I LIKE the way things are...hell I'm moving to the MD11 as the Q of life on the 727 just ain't that great even at 30% anymore. I'm telling you that because I understand how it feels when you need to curtail expenses during downturns or when you need to cut services when you get priced out of the market.

Horse analogy: Everyone wants their horse to be boarded at $200 or less a month. A simple fact is that with hay at $6-7 bucks a bale, feed at 10-12 bucks a bag, utilities and insurance where they are, you simply can't make any money at $200. At one point I had almost 20 boarders. When I got my barn board ranged from $225-300 based on type of stalls, etc. I loved getting $5000 a month or more in board. However, around the first of the month, when I priced my shavings at $900 a load, insurance at $300 a month, feed at $1500, hay at $1800, and so on I quickly discovered I was subsidizing lots of folks horse activity (and having many of them b1tching about various issues at the same time). My pastures we beat down, I replaced several $100 gates when horses would freak and break them, as well as a host of other miscelleous expenses. In short, I was PAYING folks to keep their horses at my place. A year later, I board three horses. To keep your horse on my farm is $400, and wormers, colic preventives etc are extra. The good news is I make money now, and I deal with a LOT less BS. The customers I have are solid, pay their bills, and appreciate having the quality of the equestrian center. However...here's the rub: There are only a handful that can pay that amount! The other customers have moved their horses into less desirable places, and given up having nice stalls, several tack rooms, muliple riding rings, etc. This is sort of what we face at FedEx...as we raise prices to protect margins we WILL see business drop some. Do we really want to drive our own core businesses over to ground, the post office, or even to our 2 or 3 day service? What IS good about times like these is they cull the competition, setting us up for success down the road. I know, for instance, that there is another stable doing boarding near mine that has drawn some of our former boarders. Those folks have decided the CAN board a horse for $25-30 bucks of profit every month. Since they lease/rent the land vice own it, they dont' really care if they over-graze the land and drive the facility into the dirt. Come fall, when the grass quits growing, they'll face a couple choices. First--they can stiff arm the owner (which is what I suspect) and plead their case to hang on for a few months before they get evicted. Second, they can buy more hay and feed (since the pasture will be dead) and eat the higher costs...basically working for free or perhaps even taking a loss. Or...they can raise prices...and now charge what I had to charge to make a "fair" profit. But they'll still have an inferior product, and if they match my prices folks will be pretty upset and might leave them. The "high margin" product in horses are lessons and training. We are doing that now, and having fun in the process. I think some of our domestic service is similar to horse boarding, but international looks a lot more like the higher margin lessons and training. I suspect there is room there to make siginficant gains.

2. Wish you could have been a fly on the wall in our last meeting. We are working hard to do all the things you want reps to do... I agree the LOAs are substandard. I have already said so publically many times and will work hard to improve them...when we can. I'm also personally committed to doing nothing that is considered "concessionary" and protecting your rights to make as much money as possible.

3. My job is to enforce the contract. I (and we) are doing that, and also doing the best we can to offer new suggestions to the company that we feel honor the contract, protect pilots jobs, and potentially improve everyone's quality of life. Since the message line is out, it won't be spilling the beans to say we offered a very reasonable ealry retirement package to the company along with a host of other ideas to help alleivate short term manning issues. Trust me when I say our ideas our a lot more palatable to the masses than the alternatives offered.

Controlling costs isn't bad for us. Failing to capitalize on the profits when we do our job well is the threat. I'm all for divying up the pie and taking a bigger piece for the pilots. What we all have to do, however, is make sure we do all we can to have as much pie to fight over as possible.

As always--ready to chat with anyone on these issues. I'm not the company's stooge...we got areas we need to improve. I just wanted to point out undoing the optimizer probably isn't going to be the best first choice for fixing things. I'm in AFW weeks 2-4 of this month, and picked up an Indy turn week 3. Schedule and phone number are in VIPS if you want to chat, call BS on me, or just have fun talking over lunch. I really am enjoying having the chance to serve you, and welcome any feedback or ideas.

I'll close with this...I just found out a friend was killed at Nellis today. He was my number 2 man in a fini flight at one of my ops squadrons. Life is precious...don't get too wrapped up on stupid stuff, and go hug your spouse and kids. They'll still love you long after the fire trucks have hosed you down on your taxi in....

Albief15

Burn the place down...

Limos for everyone. Single leg departures only. $200 an hour for everyone!

Does that answer that? FWIW...I got stir crazy on vacation and picked up a one day O&B my first day off. Day of trip had 3/5 in the house sick with some sort of stomach virus and called in sick. Sick close to vacation is a flag, and although he was VERY decent about it I did get a call from LK and an email from my ACP...

So in short...I have no desire to ever call anyone who is on sick leave. I have no desire to sit in an office if I can avoid it. I'm happiest working the farm with my girls, flying my GA plane (geez...that's getting dangerous), or enjoying some of the water sports NW Florida offers. And I also hope after my block 7 term is up I can go piddle around back on the line unmolested.

I try to shoot straight with you guys. One of the campaign points I made was my business experience. I'm trying to say that I "get" some of what the company is facing. There are hundreds of other things they do that irk me (accepted fares, etc) and we'll work on them...but geez if I say anything positive about the company it seems you brand me as turncoat. I don't think that is really the case here...

Laughing_Jakal

Brother, you know I'm just giving you a hard time.

Albief15

No offense taken by anyone's comments...I appreciate the chance to serve.

If I start to dingle this up I won't make you go through so many hoops to recall me...I promise...

Busboy

Albie,

As much as I respect your insight on horse boarding and the respective "margins are too low to warrant the headaches"...I can't believe that I'm hearing this from you.

I don't need individuals representing me that are looking out for the companies profits...THEY pay alot of people, quite well, for that. I'm looking for a representative that will try to eke out the last friggin' penny for me, that the company will take from someone else. I don't give a crap if it's a manager, a driver, a mechanic, customer or friggin' shareholder!!! They just raised the GD dividend, again. And, you're trying to tell me to suck it up? The company's margins are down? Give me a friggin break!! You're suppose to represent our interests!!

I'd bet that the increased dividends were probably covered by the optimizer.

fedupbusdriver

me Me ME ME ME me me me. Just warming up my vocal chords....

Busboy

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that our representatives were expected to advocate giving up working conditions to increase the shareholder's dividends. Many companies that are feeling a pinch, either reduce or discontinue those dividends. They don't raise them.

And, no one voted for a CBA that included a letter from our NC and our MEC that directed our SIG to not dispute the cranking up of the optimizer.

iarapilot

I would agree. Not trying to bust Albies chops; just trying to point out that I feel his job here is to fly and represent his block. Everyone could come up with their own analogies, but it is irrelevant. Our job as pilots is to fly like a pro, and our job as union members is to realize that the Company looks out for their bottom line, sometimes at our expense. Believe nothing from them until verified.