hogdrvr

Hello all,

I recently received CJO's from FedEx and UPS, with similar class dates. I don't live in any of their bases, have ~30 years to go until retirement, and am very torn between the two. I have friends at both Purple and Brown, all of whom seem very happy, but I'm trying to make an informed decision on which company will provide the best career growth and stability for me and my family. There seems to be a lotta experts on the matter here. What do ya'll think?

Also, I realize there is a similar thread in the UPS forums, but it seemed to bias towards UPS. Starting this thread to gain a different perspective.

badtransam97

I’d love to have that problem lol!!

0617Ld

Go buy a lottery ticket with that luck. Then cash out and quit this industry all together. But in all seriousness FedEx has been great. Can’t imagine spending a career anywhere else. Reserve rules are pretty bad here. I had better ones at the 3 other airlines I worked at prior. But everyone has to pay their dues. And there is a light at the end of the tunnel for all of us. Movement here is great. Plenty options. Commuting is a breeze. Anyways, good luck with that choice. And congrats on nailing both.

dckozak

Congratulations on being in a position to have to decide. Since this is not a "freight vs pax" consideration, your reasons will need to lean on more subtle differences that are going to be hard for any one group (brown or purple) to give really objective advise on. There are differences and if you read older posts on both the Fedex forum and the UPS forum, you will get a good feel for the con issues at both Fedex and UPS. Getting positive insight that will be helpful is going to require you to reach out to friends at both, preferably not too senior, to get some ideas about quality of life issues at each places.

So just a couple of salient point about Fedex. If you don't plan to live in domicile, we have a very good commuting system. I can't speak for UPS, but I suspect it is similar. Fedex has good (though debatable revisions in recent contact) deadheading guidelines and protocols. We seldom are scheduled to DH on company aircraft and we can easily use the funds that the company would have spent on justifiable travel expenses. This is a great benefit to pilots that don't live in base, are senior enough to bid trips with DH's, and allows some level of positioning that avoid going to domicile to start or end a trip.

Growth at Fedex has been good in recent years and upgrade times have not been as quick in as many years. No guarantees for the future as past performance doesn't guarantee future results, still many happy recent hires with seat progression and seniority moving nicely.

Company cultures at Fedex and UPS are starkly different, listen to trusted friends at both and ask pointed questions. Best of luck.

PastV1by10

This horse has been beat into a coma. FedEx hands down is a better place to be as a pilot.

Trustmee

Easy decision....FedEx. It’s a much better place to be as a pilot. UPS culture is terrible, just look at the relationship UPS has with its employees. Currently fighting the dispatchers on a fair contract and making the news this week. Currently fighting with the mechanics over a fair contract, heard some are leaving just to get away from the UPS culture. Currently fighting with the pilots by totally disregarding their scope and contracting Western Global as much as they want. UPS seems to enjoy fighting with its employee groups while FedEx seems to value theirs more. Which one of them sounds like the better place to work for 30 years?

Precontact

Where do you live btw and would you plan to relocate to a base at either?

propbandit

First off congrats. I'm deciding between AA and DAL, and I'm hoping FedEx calls sooner rather than later. Look at trustmees post, from what I've heard from a few UPS guys, if you go in to UPS "with zero expectations, you won't be disappointed". I guess the last consideration is where are you living and which one would have the easier commute. Good luck.

SaltyDog

Posted in that "other" thread. But, believed advised an unbiased view.
Talk to FedEx pilots, as stated in that previous thread, you will get positive FedEx bias. Excepting the 1%. Normal.
Talk to UPS pilots, as stated in that previous thread, you will get positive UPS bias. Excepting the 1%. Normal.
Personally think both will provide you a tremendous career. Both terrific companies that everyone can nitpick till your retire (We will).
As a pilot, your work life will be significantly similar with similar flying type opportunity.
Pilot peers: Same stock and backgrounds. No difference except where they were able to get the job. Good people at both.
ALPA or IPA? Personal opinions will be biased to who they are associated. Neutral to outsiders IMO.
You have friends at both? Guessing talking to those folks would provide a far better gut feeling for you than anything a 'biased' thread posted on either a FedEx or UPS cargo forum.

Nice dilemma. Maybe its too easy. Take first class date. Good journey.

hogdrvr

My understanding is that FedEx's pension plan will be replaced with something more similar to Delta's higher direct 401k contribution, whereas UPS will retain a combination of a pension plan and DC. Has there been talk of what FedEx's new retirement plan will look like? I've heard 20% DC, cash over cap is being discussed.