FedEX HKG Ex-pat package is out, and boy is it funny...
I can not BELIEVE that this was voted in favor of 11-1 by our Union. Between this and DW's stand on the retro age 60 fiasco, I don't wear an ALPA pin or Lanyard anymore.
For MEM, ANC, and LAX guys who don't want to take the time to read the whole thing (and/or who aren't lawyers) before voting, here is a summary:
1--Housing allowance of $2700/mo (LOA B.2.d.i) if you rent. You'll get $1300/mo (LOA B.2.d.ii) if you buy. You have to live within 100 miles (LOA B.2.d.iii) of HKG (assuming HKG is the "base airport") Please remember that a "normal" apartment big enough to house you, your wife, and one kid is roughly 8500++ USD per month in any desirable area of HKG, and that you are RENTING, and not building equity in anything.
2--Remember the two hour limit on ground transport? That's gone. Get ready for a midnight van ride to Guangzhou for a 3 am show (LOA sect. G).
3--Want to go back to visit the folks stateside? You'll be able to do just that (along with your family) on an annual basis. . . in coach class. . . after having been in your new base for two years (LOA B.2.f). Perhaps after that amount of time you will have forgotten about Grandma. Out of sight out of mind?
4--Relocation allowance of $10K or 79 credit hours (contract 6.C.2) is now just $10,000 (LOA B.2.a) and you'll get an additional $5000. . . after 4 YEARS of staying in your new base. (LOA B.2.b)
5--Minimum commitment is 2 years (LOA B.2). Let's be conservative and assume you are single with no wife and kids, and can live in a very nice van down by the river in HKG for $6000/mo. You're paying $3,300 out of pocket (utilities aside) for rent (which we all know it lost money). . . $3300/mo for min commitment of 24 months equals your cost for living in HKG for two years-- $79,200!! Remember, that's for the van down by the river. . .
6--We're getting "tax equalization." In other words, you will pay the exact same taxes as if you lived in the USA. Isn't that the whole point of being an ex-pat, to avoid paying US Federal income tax (on the 1st 84K anyway) Take away that benefit, and still expect guys to live in THE most expensive, one of the MOST polluted (complete with air you can see), and crowded cities in the world?? I have never, ever, in the history of any US company basing employees overseas, heard of taking away the tax benefit Is FedEX honing its stand-up routine or what?
I hope FedEX is ready to fill the FO side of HKG with new hires. And I hope FedEX is ready to change its typical hiring practice. I'd love to listen in on the phone call from Kim to the typical, 38 year old, ex-military guy, with a wife and 3 kids... "Hello, congrats, you are hired at FedEX and we're ready to offer you a class date! You'll be going to Hong Kong, the most expensive city for ex-pat housing in the world. You can not afford to bring your wife, and we will not assist you in any way at all in schooling your children, because that only costs around $15,000 per year, EACH. And, we're going to pay you 52 bucks an hour! Welcome aboard!"
FedEX is going to need start hiring guys like the Commuter airlines do. 24 years old, no wife, no kids, little debt, still getting money from mom and dad, still suffering from Shiny Jet Syndrome, and willing to take ANY offer to get out of their CFI job.