Flying for the Airlines

[HawkeyeMom]

I agree with this.
Most military don’t understand the civilian world. If you are an airline employee and called to active duty you keep your seniority, meaning while you are gone you continue to move up the pilot list. You are NOT forced to resign. I think there might be a 5 year limit on this, but I haven’t heard of it being enforced at most airlines. When you come back you go through training again depending on how long you have been gone.
If you have drill it is quite easy to drop trips. You may lose pay for the month, but you don’t face any hassles as long as you have legitimate orders.
Even a Guard/Reserve retirement gives you options and flexibility. Look at a retirement calculator and see how much money you would have to invest for that much annual retirement income. The results may shock you. Sixty years old may seem like it’s beyond your scope, but it creeps up faster than you think.
In addition to a backup plan if the economy hits the skids, the reserves/guard lets you be a little more aggressive with your 401k. You can probably let it ride a little longer if there is a market correction as long as you can live on your military retirement income.

Yes, in DH's case, a percentage of his orders did not count towards the 5-yr leave of absence because of how the military classified them. He lost no seniority and maintained his # and earned AD retirement.

 

[LT360]

Hopping in late to this thread and not a Pilot, however I work in the aviation field and have experience working with all the major US cargo operators-FedEx, UPS, Atlas, Amazon, Kalitta. In addition to carrying cargo versus people, you have to look at the operations. Cargo carriers normally are flying overnight. If you want to see it in action go to Memphis or Louisville at around 10pm and you will see a stack of planes heading in. Those planes are offloaded and reloaded in 4-6 hours before heading out again.

Second look at the fleets that they operate, generally older airframes. In fact up until last year FedEx was still flying the MD10-10 which were produced in 1970s. They still are operating the MD10-30 and MD11. That is not say they are not maintained well but it is to say they generally do not fly the latest and greatest airframes. The one exception is the 747-8F's and 777's that UPS and FedEx fly respectively.

For the large US cargo operators they each have a domestic hub-Memphis for FedEx, Louisville for UPS. Kallita's base is way up north in Oscoda, MI at an old AF base.

 

[UHBlackhawk]

Hopping in late to this thread and not a Pilot, however I work in the aviation field and have experience working with all the major US cargo operators-FedEx, UPS, Atlas, Amazon, Kalitta. In addition to carrying cargo versus people, you have to look at the operations. Cargo carriers normally are flying overnight. If you want to see it in action go to Memphis or Louisville at around 10pm and you will see a stack of planes heading in. Those planes are offloaded and reloaded in 4-6 hours before heading out again.

Second look at the fleets that they operate, generally older airframes. In fact up until last year FedEx was still flying the MD10-10 which were produced in 1970s. They still are operating the MD10-30 and MD11. That is not say they are not maintained well but it is to say they generally do not fly the latest and greatest airframes. The one exception is the 747-8F's and 777's that UPS and FedEx fly respectively.

For the large US cargo operators they each have a domestic hub-Memphis for FedEx, Louisville for UPS. Kallita's base is way up north in Oscoda, MI at an old AF base.

The Kalitta maintenance base is in Oscoda. The corporate headquarters is in Ypsilanti, MI. The pilots are “home based”, however, so they only go to Ypsilanti for training. This means they can live anywhere in the lower 48 and Kalitta will fly them to where the trip begins.
Although technically limited to the lower 48, I knew pilots who lived in Alaska (Anchorage is a major cargo hub), Europe (Leipzig is a cargo hub), and even Asia.
In addition, Kalitta has mechanics assigned to all their 747s (and I assume the 777s). These mechanics fly with the airplanes at all times and work 2 weeks in, 2 weeks off. They are also “home based”.

 

[LT360]

Although technically limited to the lower 48, I knew pilots who lived in Alaska (Anchorage is a major cargo hub), Europe (Leipzig is a cargo hub), and even Asia.

ANC is also used a re-fueling spot for planes that cant make it all the way to Asia.

I met a FedEx pilot who recently left the USAFA. His wife was still active pilot with USAFA (reserves maybe) and they lived in HI. After training his "home base" was going to be ANC but would still live in HI

 

[UHBlackhawk]

ANC is also used a re-fueling spot for planes that cant make it all the way to Asia.

I met a FedEx pilot who recently left the USAFA. His wife was still active pilot with USAFA (reserves maybe) and they lived in HI. After training his "home base" was going to be ANC but would still live in HI

I dont think FedEx does “home basing”. He’s based in ANC and has to get himself to work from Hawaii, or commuting. In home basing the company flies you to where ever the trip starts. Then when the trip is finished, they fly you home.