FreightDawgyDog

First..what is the VEBA I am paying for supposed to do? Just like social security it is money that I will likely never see any benefit from. Beyond that, why is paying a lot for health care after you retire (unless you are already retired from another job and have coverage through them) such a shock? Any retirement planner should tell you to be prepared for this and save appropriately. Why should those that have done that pay for those that didn't? Kind of like taxpayers who pay their mortgage every month having to pay for the guy who bought a house he couldn't afford and now get bailed out by us. Hell this whole over 60 rule being changed was nothing more than a big bailout for pilots that say they weren't prepared to retire for every reason in the book. And as with every bailout, someone other than the recipients will pay the price for their poor planning, greed, and/or lack of anything else to do besides sit in a cockpit for 50 hours a month and sleep somewhere besides their own bed for 10 nights (or 23 nights if you are a retro flying and protecting carryover). Those under 60 are currently paying a huge price in VEBA costs and BLG loss. That earning power loss will likely truly put us behind the power curve of retirement so that we may have to work past 60 now just to recoup it. So the vicious cycle begins and as long as we get paid as part time employees while the senior and aged among us fly extra and protect their carryover it will just make things worse.

Now, we can talk about early retirement all we want. The Richard Gere gang (Reference the scene where he is on his knees crying "I've got no where else to go" while being hosed down by Louis Gosset Jr while screaming "I want your retirement" and not taped up gerbil reference) will never take any deal to go anywhere for they truly have no where to go. These guys actually did hub turns pouring coffee for over 2 years for less than minimum wage to get that left seat back. They will likely go right back to the back seat again when they hit 65. Anything pointed at them is a waste of time.

The real target for early retirement those who have hit there 25 years younger than 60, and those that are hanging around to hit their 25 years. These people may actually have a life outside of the AOC, the cockpit and mainlining Viagra on exotic layovers while chasing girls that could be their great grand daughters. I truly think there is a lot of people who would be very interested in a package that would include set benefit costs during retirement, a negotiated cash buyout of their A-plan based on either 25 years at your current high 5, or if you have 25 years and haven't reached the high five max, then you meet it automatically. Set the number of packages offered to the number we are overmanned and see what happens. My guess is they would find plenty of takers who want to spend the rest of their lives with their loved ones and not trying to relive a time of their lives when they were part of the solution and not part of the problem. Then, our subsidizing of over 60 fliers and poor management decisions through BLG reductions would go away and we could fix it in the next contract.

As far as PBS being part of the solution, used as it is at Delta it would only solve managements desire to optimize us more and put more bonuses money at our expense into their pockets. Now cap and bank to prevent the Dawn of the Dead fliers from working 23 days a month while the rest of us are forced to work 10 is a great idea and I would love to see that in place whether it be temporary or permanent.

Happy Mother's Day!!

FDXLAG

Agree with a heck of a lot in there. Although I will politely point out (before someone else does) the veba you are currently paying into is only for the guys retired and medicare eligible (i.e. over 65). It would not help under 65 retirees. But you did already pay about $5K to help the >65 <53 guys pay for retirement medical insurance.

Busdrivr

You're missing the big point here Dude. Fedex isn't going to offer us an early retirement. Period.

Flyinhigh

TriCare For Life kicks in at 65. TriCare Basic continues when you retire (Active Duty) or at age 60 for Guard/Reserve. But you know what? TriCare should have nothing to do with our retirement. A lot of guys don't have it. And, with a stroke of the pen, this Congress can change it or take it away.
I worked for a crap outfit that had a militray contract. They figured your TriCare and Military Pension in to your compensation package. Wasn't fair then and isn't fair today. Shouldn't even be a player in any of our negotiations.

FreightDawgyDog

I know, I know. Next your going to tell me the Easter Bunny isn't just running late with my basket, he isn't coming at all! Just don't tell me there is no Santa Clause. I keep seeing him in the AOC (sans beard though) on his way to ALA, SFS, CRK, and VCP so I know he is still around. Funny though, Rudolph now has a nose like a little blue pill instead of a red one.

Seriously though, you are correct. That fact alone should tell us all just how overmanned we truly are and how much financial trouble the company is really in. This is all about the new mantra in D.C. and board rooms everywhere..Never waste a good crisis!! Grab whatever you can while you can under the guise of panic. 4a2b is a perfect example. If the company actually addressed the excess they say we have through early retirement, it would kill their justification to take almost $15,000,000 and counting from our back pockets via BLG cuts.

Tuck

I agree it shouldn't and isn't. My point was that the health care costs are not the primary disincentive to age 60 guys retiring today or any early retirement.

Auger In

I recently flew with two guys, (CA and S/O),who were both 64 years old. The captain wanted the bottom 400 furloughed so he could get his BLG back up to pre-4a2b levels. I heard him ask the S/O if he was going to stick around past 65 and the S/O said, "yeah, probably." Then the S/O asked the captain, "Are you going to stay past 65?" The CA replied "yes." I couldn't just sit there and listen to this so I asked the CA why he wanted to continue to do this kind of work past 65. He replied "Why not, it's a job." I then asked, "But don't you want to retire and enjoy life?" His reply, "I feel like I am already retired... I get the schedule that I want, the vacation days that I want, a lot of time off and the pay is very good." I then said, "But what about your FedEx pension? You'll get paid handsomely for being at home and enjoying life and not have to do hub-turns at 2:00 AM." He then replied, "But with my high 5 and a little that I get from my pension with Eastern Airlines, it will only be about $80,0000 and that's not enough." I started to get angry so I ended the conversation.

skypine27

I've seen these dudes too, and they scare the F out of me. And you're right about anything pointed at them (other than a gun, or at least a firehose) is a waste of time.

HIFLYR

The option to the backseat regardless of manning requirements, needs to go away with the next contract!!!!

R1200RT

SWA doesn't have a retirement!!! So, a buy out is much easier.

Not sure why no one on here can give me a number they think would get FedEx guys to leave? It's all about money.

You guys just bi$ch on here and run the threads in circles comparing FedEx to Apples. We have lost a lot of smart guys on this forum due to the lack of coherent thinking.