More on the 767 Purchase Deal

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
I know I've already talked about this, but here's some additional information that proves just how dumb upper management can be at FedEx Express. First, the 767 Freighter has been available since 1995, well before the incredibly dumb DC10 to MD10 conversion program was initiated in 1999.

Accounts vary, but the cost for converting a DC10 into an MD10 ran about $7.6 Million per plane, not including the purchase cost of the used passenger donor aircraft. I don't know if this includes the intial conversion from PAX to Cargo. The net result was a rebuilt DC10 with a 2 man MD11 cockpit that still sucked fuel like a starved pig. These planes were supposed to last another 20 years, and at least 30 of them will now either be sold (doubtful), scrapped (likely), or mothballed in the desert (likely). Wow, what an incredibly "intelligent" and costly bad decision by our very highly paid top executives.

My take is that the purchase of 30 new 767's will be the rationale for little to nothing in the way of raises this coming March. Diminishing Express volumes will also be cited as a reason we need to be kept impoverished. What will be the penalty for those who decided against buying 767's earlier? Probably nothing. These twin-engine aircraft could have been saving fuel for 16 years and counting. Guess who was the launch customer for the 767 freighter? UPS, which apparently does a bit of long-term research into it's aircraft needs, unlike FedEx.

In the meantime, our crap vehicle fleet continues to deteriorate with the exception of the new Sprinter purchases. Seen one of our CTV's lately? Sad, to say the least. No money for vehicles, or us. But lots for politicians and upper management.

Fred will pay for all of this the way he usually does....through takeaways and higher productivity. Whatever tidbit we get in March (and why is it always March?) will be offset by whatever Fred decides he needs back from us. That's the way it has always been, and with no real union threat, there isn't much holding our Beloved Leader back.

WE LOVE YOU, FRED!!!
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
Why March? Probably because the Peak quarter ends in February and they have to post official numbers for the stockholders. If we did poorly they can lower or take away the raise to keep the dividends up.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Why March? Probably because the Peak quarter ends in February and they have to post official numbers for the stockholders. If we did poorly they can lower or take away the raise to keep the dividends up.

Probably, but it does allow the line holding the carrot to dangle during peak, then be drawn up and back into the reel in March. Even if we get a piece of carrot, there's a big hook hidden somewhere inside that will negate any "gain" we make. The net result is almost always a loss for the hourly employee.

I heard an interesting editorial today that basically stated that most corporate gains today come at the expense of lower-level employees, and that this mindset is a basic tenet of conservative thought. Our Beloved Leader is quite conservative. Management spends more time trying to screw employees rather than building market share and increasing revenue through selling the actual product or service. FedEx would seem to exemplify that type of philosophy in action, and Beloved Leader pretends that he has nothing to gain by reaming us at every opportunity. He has risen to #263 on the Forbes 400 list of richest people in the world, which is just a coincidence of course.
 
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vantexan

Well-Known Member
On a related note, USAToday just reported according to the Census 48 out of 100 Americans are now considered either lower class financially or in poverty. They define lower class for a family of 4 as having income less than $45k. The middle class is shrinking.
 

Cactus

Just telling it like it is
Fred always seems to enjoy spending money on stupid stuff just so he can hold out on the workforce. I'm sure his staff of stooges that vetoed the purchase of 767's will enjoy some healthy perks especially this Xmas season.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
with no real union threat, there isn't much holding our Beloved Leader back.

nuff said

So true. With the death of Kim Jung Il, Fred is now our Dear Leader, which is totally appropriate given his attitude toward employees (except pilots). His VP of Air Operations is currently circulating a memo in which he says "the MD10's are 30-40 years old!". Well, that means that they (the airplanes) were 20-30 years old when FedEx moronically decided to completely rebuild them. Airframes basically last forever, and the low number of cycles that FedEx jets fly mean that they probably could have easily lasted another 20 years. The decision to rebuild these aircraft was dumb all around. I wonder if the bean counters in Memphis can calculate the squander factor for this fiasco?
 

DOWNTRODDEN IN TEXAS

Well-Known Member
So true. With the death of Kim Jung Il, Fred is now our Dear Leader, which is totally appropriate given his attitude toward employees (except pilots). His VP of Air Operations is currently circulating a memo in which he says "the MD10's are 30-40 years old!". Well, that means that they (the airplanes) were 20-30 years old when FedEx moronically decided to completely rebuild them. Airframes basically last forever, and the low number of cycles that FedEx jets fly mean that they probably could have easily lasted another 20 years. The decision to rebuild these aircraft was dumb all around. I wonder if the bean counters in Memphis can calculate the squander factor for this fiasco?

That's like the old "undercoating on a used car" joke...and he fell for it.
 
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