DLax85

Don’t look back, look forward.

Giving up a DB retirement based on “High 5 FAE”, where you can actually average in years that are above the cap, WILL affect EVERYONE!

If you don’t understand the 1st order, 2nd order and 3rd order effects you really haven’t studied the seniority lists in EVERY bid pack

There are (have been??) many advantages to working at Fedex - our vacation system and our current A fund, are the two mostly touted.

Given those two, most guys ultimately find their niche.

What works for them while at work, but also outside it - family, hobbies, guard/reserve commitments, living in MEM, NOT living in MEM, living in Alaska or Hong Kong or Europe for the adventure

Changing this to “Every Year Counts” method that is based on the company contributing a fixed amount total each year is indirectly accepting a Big B fund for everyone

(...remember, that’s actually what the company wanted for new hires in the last round of negotiations)

But in this big, defined contribution, pseudo B fund, you can’t control the investments. You can’t dial up or dial down the risk based on your personal situation. Now All of a pilots retirement will be subject to market risk.

Pilot behaviors will change.

Look how the “fly to you die bonus” has changed pilot behavior

Who’s benefiting from that?

What’s the 2nd order consequence of that program?

Go look at the schedules of guys in their last 2 years of employment.

How does that affect Open Time?

How does that affect pilot staffing, reserve utilization, upgrade times?

Disturbances at the top, ripple laterally and vertically.

Only those at the apex are unaffected.

The climb to the apex (...or your personal destination along the way) will be affected.

The VB plan is touted as better than a pure DC plan because it eliminates mortality risk. You can’t outlive the money. TRUE!

But we’re not replacing our B fund.

We’re eliminating the best A fund in the industry (...in which, you can’t outlive the money)

An A fund that has helped EVERYONE meet their personal financial and QOL goals

Our Total Retirement needs improvement, an improving our current, truly defined benefit, A fund should be part of that.

We need to drop the defeatist mindset.

We need to Unify and Look Forward.

There are other attainable options that should be explored and negotiated

EVERYONE’s QOL life depends on it. Most imporatantly, those with a long career ahead of them.

They really don’t know what twists & turns, ups and downs, their personal lives and their finances will take.

The “modelor” is all based on someone else’s assumptions and rosey forecasts

In Unity,

DLax

FrankTheTank

Were you here for 4A2B cause that is exactly what happened.. Lots of upgrades of folks that were waiting, all the while bumping down folks that were willing to go junior! As was the over 60 Special Bid.. and both were B.S.

RMFedex

Yes. Getting excessed so some over 60 management types could get “their” window seats back was really special. Apparently some folks think they deserve to bump their fellow pilots down again because they might have buyers remorse for not upgrading if the VB goes through. The question is do they have the horsepower to “demand” the company does a realignment bid. Bid what you want to fly and then don’t complain if the rules change. We don’t get a realignment bid every time we sign a new contract.

In the end though, I think we can agree a major change in the retirement change will have unintended consequences. Some may be adversely affected. Unity will suffer when people feel like somebody took something from them.

Have a good weekend.

FrankTheTank

We are in agreement with both counts. I was Just clarifiying the B.S. of allowing folks (to exercise their seniority-which they passed on at some point) to upgrade while booting others off. And it wouldn’t surprise me to see it again which would surely kick me out of my seat

pinseeker

Yes, we can agree on that. When have we made a drastic change in the contract that effected someones income in retirement? Why should anyone be adversely affected? If this plan adversely affects anyone, why should we be pursuing it?

If you chose to upgrade at 100%, you knew the risks were there that at some point you might be forced out. It has happened before. So why is it that the person who chose quality of life over upgrades the one who chose poorly? I would say that when you upgraded at 100%, you knew the risks, so that pilot chose poorly. Who would have thought that the union would be trying to give our retirement away?

DLax85

It won't be some. It will be ALL.

Maybe not immediately, but how pilots approach how much they fly each month, how much vacation they sell back, how they choose to bid for vacancies will change.

Did the Age 65 change only affect the guys who were right below the 591/2 yrs old that stayed longer?

Did it only affect those who were on the cusp of upgrading to Capt ?

Of course it didn't. Any historic uptime upgrade timeline they are using now will certainly change.

Switching to a Career Average Earnings method from a High 5 method reduces the rate at which EVERYONE will accumulate earned benefits. It reduces every ones average earnings (if you assume equal Caps)

"Every Year Counts" really means "Work Harder & Longer".

The company is gonna love those young, under 5 year, FOs working hard to maximize their retirement.

Heck, they will love anyone not making the highest pay scale in each seat.

No slacking off just because you have children at home, you have military obligations, or you can hold your home town.

There is (was) a reason pilots left Southwest Airlines to come to Fedex.

But under a Career Average Earnings model, our guys will be drinking the same kool aide SWA serves, which drives guys to maximize their # of trips each month....every month....every year.

Pilot Staffing will have to update all their models too.

Iwa Washi

I'll add good luck with all future contract negotiations with the company under this plan with everyone picking up open time, flying draft, selling back vacation, etc. during those times in order to keep maxing out their benefit. I mean a lot of people were doing it before, but with a plan like this, stand by, we haven't seen anything yet! It will be a feeding frenzy.

I can see it now: "if we can't agree on (insert FDX ALPA number one negotiation priority here) then we're going to...um...well...oh never mind."

BLOB

So says the person who would “demand” a re-alignment/excess/hose your buddy bid if they don’t get what they want. You want what somebody else bid on that you passed on. That sounds like you regret your choice if this VB goes through.

Whatever? You can demand all you want. They don’t care about your demands any more than mine or anybody else’s. The company controls bids and will do what benefits them. That’s their job. Our circular firing squad here though shows how this impacts unity.

If VB makes it to a vote let’s just hope people look at the whole picture and not what a modeler spits out.

StarClipper

That Modeler have shows 600K+ Pay at retirement at age 60 and 700K+ at age 65. I must that green bar is pretty. But I’m not buying it, the devil is in the details. These are all based assumptions, however that 130K is guaranteed at no risk to me.

Leave The A Plan alone please. I’ve never been a gambler and I’m not about to start now.

Nightflyer

Age 67 is around the corner, and if we vote in this POS VB plan, people will stay all the way to 67.

After all, "every year counts".

Leave the A plan alone, except to improve it, but not at any additional risk to me, and certainly not with this BS VB plan.

Improve the B plan as well.

This is all about the greed of the guys who already have their 25 and high 5. They will try to combine those votes with the "millennial" hires.

Guys in the middle, of which there are many, but perhaps not enough, will get screwed.

Tell your block reps, loud and clear, that you want no part of this, or it will pass by 51%, and you will hate your union for life.

The worst thing this union ever did to screw us was agency shop. The leadership is not afraid to screw us over, because we have absolutely no recourse.

They did it to us with age 65 and they will do it again with this VB plan if they can get away with it.

It is time to tell the MEC that "we are the union", as they like to point out, and they need to listen to US.

Perhaps it is time to start recalling block reps before this madness continues any longer.