FedEx Feeder Flights Rationale?
06-19-2014, 05:07 PM
#1
New Hire
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Joined APC: Jun 2014
Posts: 1
FedEx Feeder Flights Rationale?
Hello Cargo Pilots,
I, as a lowly consumer, have a question I was hoping you might be able to answer. I live in a place that gets a daily FedEx feeder flight from Oakland. That flight is about 81 miles and maybe 35 minutes. To drive the same distance would be 2 hours, give or take. Is that 1.5 hour time saving really a big enough different to justify the cost to fly the packages? Also, since it is a small feeder flight and I imagine there is more air-volume between these two city pairs than fits in a small plane, what packages actually get on that flight? Just next day/next flight stuff?
I, as a lowly consumer, have a question I was hoping you might be able to answer. I live in a place that gets a daily FedEx feeder flight from Oakland. That flight is about 81 miles and maybe 35 minutes. To drive the same distance would be 2 hours, give or take. Is that 1.5 hour time saving really a big enough different to justify the cost to fly the packages? Also, since it is a small feeder flight and I imagine there is more air-volume between these two city pairs than fits in a small plane, what packages actually get on that flight? Just next day/next flight stuff?
06-20-2014, 09:06 AM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2006
Position: 767 FO
Posts: 8,047
I think you can answer the question yourself. An hour and a half is definitely important when you have a 1030 guarantee to the customer. I can't speak for what gets on the flight but I would say whatever it takes to make the customer happy and still make money.
06-20-2014, 07:59 PM
#3
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Joined APC: Aug 2006
Position: 1559
Posts: 1,535
Or a 0800 first overnight guarantee. Additionally, that feeder allows an extra hour and a half in the evening for people to drop off packages. You could say it expands the service hours by three hours. Finally, traffic in the Bay Area and across the bridges can be very unpredictable.
06-20-2014, 11:12 PM
#4
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2006
Position: Furloughed
Posts: 436
it costs maybe 1000 an hour to operate a caravan and they charge 25 bucks an envelope. You do the math. I use to do adhoc fedex feeder runs with one bag of docs because the service failures would cost way more than the aircraft operating cost
06-21-2014, 11:16 AM
#5
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2009
Position: Left seat of a Jet
Posts: 514
Hello Cargo Pilots,
I, as a lowly consumer, have a question I was hoping you might be able to answer. I live in a place that gets a daily FedEx feeder flight from Oakland. That flight is about 81 miles and maybe 35 minutes. To drive the same distance would be 2 hours, give or take. Is that 1.5 hour time saving really a big enough different to justify the cost to fly the packages? Also, since it is a small feeder flight and I imagine there is more air-volume between these two city pairs than fits in a small plane, what packages actually get on that flight? Just next day/next flight stuff?
I, as a lowly consumer, have a question I was hoping you might be able to answer. I live in a place that gets a daily FedEx feeder flight from Oakland. That flight is about 81 miles and maybe 35 minutes. To drive the same distance would be 2 hours, give or take. Is that 1.5 hour time saving really a big enough different to justify the cost to fly the packages? Also, since it is a small feeder flight and I imagine there is more air-volume between these two city pairs than fits in a small plane, what packages actually get on that flight? Just next day/next flight stuff?
06-21-2014, 01:12 PM
#6
On Reserve
Joined APC: Jan 2010
Position: Left seat hauling trash
Posts: 17
In reality, it is the bean counters (i.e. engineers) who determine who gets a feeder and who does not. If the engineers determine that a location does not warrant a feeder due to costs, then that is the final word on the matter. The local market manager is responsible for making service no matter how the packages get to him.
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