dckozak

I know, FedEx had hotter babes. Yea thats its, wait, does tequila impair your judgement, maybe I meant UPS has hotter babes, oh never mind....

L'il J.Seinfeld

UPS has tons of hot chicks, although a few used to be dudes.

Deuce130

In his defense, if his spouse worked at UPS, I'm sure he'd be willing to drop a few trips also.

highsky

The biggest thing I like about the UPS/IPA contract versus FDX/ALPA, is that we have no differences pay.

Just longevity and the number of stripes on your shoulder. That's the best way to do it.

CactusCrew

True, but a poor example. There are ALPA airlines that have the same pay structure across fleets, I worked at one. It didn't have wide bodies though, B737, all sizes of Airbus, and a few B757.

ALPA does have a better local structure for representing pilots at different bases/demographics and having your voice heard as an individual member. But that is the ONLY thing I liked better about ALPA. We shouldn't have to "call an EB member" to have our voice heard. If you haven't participated in ALPA on a local level, you wouldn't understand.

Where the IPA shines on the other hand, is in its ability to dedicate its resources and focus on ONE pilot group and its issues without getting into the politics of a national union. The IPA response to the furlough (open time ban and MOU) are both good examples of IPA resourcefulness.

Also as an airline, it is very unified. But a large part of that can be credited to UPS.

Just my opinion, its worth what you paid for it ...

finedavefine

I agree that that is one of the strange differences between the two pilot groups. For some reason, you UPS guys decided that you wanted same pay for same seats, throughout your flying operation, while at FedEx, we decided to use the ALPA model, which called for pay increases as one went from one lower-paying seat to a higher paying one and from a narrowbody seat to a widebody seat. What I find interesting is that of all the airline/aviation industry, it's only UPS that has and likes your methodology.

From a company point of view, I suspect that the UPS method saves the company lots of money. Guys don't have to chase the buck by moving from a smaller jet to a larger one, in the same seat. From an IPA point of view, there's no size envy, due to a friend flying a larger jet and making more money doing it. As well, your technique certainly cuts down on school house visits, which (although I don't know for sure) probably cuts down on potential failures and other company/union problems, as they relate to guys going through the training department.

As for which union is "better", I'd have to say that from what I've read here, at least from a cohesive-group mentality, that IPA is the winner hands down. That said, one has to wonder why that came to be. Is it that pilot groups are more cohesive in Kentucky than they are in Tennessee? Personally I doubt that. What I do believe is that when UPS created its flying operation, and for the next few years, all the pilots working there were getting screwed, equally. Regardless of seat. The pay was poor. The working conditions were lousy. The company took advantage of every efficiency that they are famous for, at the expense of the pilot group.

So when the Teamsters were thrown out, and IPA came into being, guys finally found their voice and through good union leadership and an overwhelming need to make things better for all, your group managed to do some amazing things. It totally revolved around your ability, as a group, to all pull in the same direction, on virtually all the issues that mattered.

At FedEx, on the other hand, almost from the beginning, when they got rid of the falcons and bought the 727's and DC-10's, the senior guys were getting a really good deal, while the less-senior guys, not so much. It's been that way ever since, and because of that, we've found it difficult, at best, to show a united front to management. They know that, and capitalize on it whenever they can by playing one group against another. It stinks, but it is the way it is. We're trying, but with limited success.

All the above said, I'd still rather be at Purple, any day of the week and twice on weekends, because I believe that fundamentally our management (to some degree) cares and respects us more than yours does you.

Freightpuppy

I don't care if he wants to work every day of the month, the company should not make you work above guarantee if you do not want to. If you are working 90+ hours every month, guarantee should be 90 hours not 75.

Alfaro120

I don't want to work 90+ hours a month but I have to if I want to support my family with Skywest pay...btw, I live in CA

Freightpuppy

That's understandable but everyone should not be forced to.

Alfaro120

I agree. I looked up your husband, the name looks familiar but I can't put a face to it.