Memphis Fedex Ramp Photo

[Biggles1049]

What a sight !!

Click here for a bigger image http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1108051/

http://www.abpic.co.uk/images/images/1108051M.jpg

[layinlow]

Nice shot!! What is doesn't show is that around 4 PM and again at 3 AM all those planes are gone! FYI, Fed Ex is taking over the Tennessee Air National Guard ramp and the north side ramp and adding more hangers. The Indy hub is growing as well as Fed Ex bought the ATA facility. Growth is good.

[Newforest2]

Great photo, but the thought springs to mind, 'all your eggs in one basket?' What contingency plans would there be in the event of a catastrophe, weather like a hurricane, runways u/s due to earthquakes?

[FireLight]

How about a tornado? A couple of FedEx ATR's went for an unauthorized flight into a ditch at Greensboro, North Carolina.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7393030.stm

Interesting question about earthquakes. While infrequent, there is a possibility of severe ones as they are near the New Madrid seismic zone.

I am confident they would have enough warning in the event of a hurricane as the predication capabilities in the U.S. are pretty good. (Katrina wasn't a failure of prediction. It was a failure of ensuring protective measures were adequate, and then ensuring that the emergency response was adequate.)

[Biggles1049]

Thanks for your interest.

We landed at 2.30pm on a Sunday.

At 4pm the Fedex Exodus Started - over 80 aircraft departed in only 90 minutes - quite a sight.

We waited up untill 11pm hoping to see a mass arrival - but it did not happen - according to a security guy the next day - it does.nt happen on a sunday night

Hope this helps

[Biggles1049]

Reference has been made to " all your eggs in one basket" - someone must be contact with the Weather gods !

Well two days after we were there a severe storm hit the South - see link below http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/02/05/tornado.bad.weather/index.html?iref=newssearch

Ripping off a Hagar roof at Memphis - although not reported generally I understand that some damage was also done to some aircraft

[ix_touring]

I read in Business week or similar a few years ago that the keep a "mobile depot" on stand-by for Wx events.

It is 2 - 4 aircraft packed with everything from IT to food/bedding etc that would be needed to rock up to a hanger and turn it into a hub in the event that another hub is out of action...

kind of a hub in a box (or MD80...)

They are used when regional hubs are closed due to hurricanes/monsoon/flood etc world wide.

iX

[layinlow]

I'm sure the company has made plenty of contigency plans. They didn't get big by being stupid.

[trashhauler]

Isn't the picture a pretty sight? It is correct that during the twice a day pushes those ramps are pretty empty. What a lot of people do not understand is Fed Ex is way more than the largest air package delivery comapny in the world. They are an interlocking of 9 companies, Fed Ex Express (the one most know), Fed Ex Ground, Fed Ex Frieght, Fed Ex Solutions and Technology, (Fed Ex owns the STC for the 727 hush kits and the new fire suppression system), Fed Ex Global Supply Chain Services, Fed Ex Custom Critical, Fed Ex Smart Post, Fed Ex Trade Networks, and Fed Ex Kinkos, all based in Memphis. Most of the DoD contracts (subcontracted out) are Fed Ex's in addition to the postal contracts and the other humanitarian services. And Fed Ex is expecting to get bigger with the introduction of new 757's and 777's and the opening of Hong Kong and Paris bases. Fed Ex is big and no better company could you fly for. In basic indoc the Cheif Pilot welcomes new crew members to the "last flying job they will ever have". Fed Ex means it.

[stevehudd]

Amazing!...I'd like to see the Staff area just before flight Must be packed... :)

[L-38]

"In basic indoc the Cheif Pilot welcomes new crew members to the "last flying job they will ever have". Fed Ex means it."

Funny - years ago FedEx crews were known as "Sky Nazis" as their company was known as a tough place to work.

[jb2_86_uk]

A Fedex Paris hub?

Just out of curiosity, would they still be operating N-registered aircraft with FAA pilots? or would there be the opportunity for European JAA pilots to get onboard?

Sorry for the newbie-ness nature of my post, but Im just about to dive head-first into the industry, Im interested in where future career paths could lead! :ok:

JB

[skyhigh105]

FedEx already have a hub in Paris CDG, all the widebodys are N Reg, all the flight crews are US. most US based some though do live in Europe.

The 757 intro has been delayed somewhat and there are plenty of rumours abound, more MD11s into Europe and all sorts, watch this space the next couple of years Europewise will be very interesting for FedEx, althougn not all news is good.

[layinlow]

Unless there is a change in the union contract I doubt very seriously if there would be any European pilots. All new hires are assigned Memphis base and that would mean a green card. If you have a green card fine, but that still doesn't mean you would get Paris any time soon, if ever. Seniority rules when it comes to bidding equipment and bases.

[jb2_86_uk]

Thanks for the info guys! :ok:

No point applying at Fedex then when I get my shiney JAA licenses then :(

JB

[trashhauler]

Staff area is quite large with many terminals for the crew to get the flight information. Dispatch (for lack of a better word) is located off the airport and it is big. The operaton runs like a Swiss watch most of the time. Fed Ex has thier own crew bus system and even the drivers must pass written and practical test yearly. In fact every department goes through an audit yearly and any problems are identified and corrected quickly. It is one humdinger of an operation.

[frozenboxhauler]

I think you're confusing Fedex with UPS. I heard their management lovingly refered by that nick-name. I remember "brown shirts" used on occasion too.
fbh

[L-38]

I stand corrected, frozenboxhauler. . . . . You are right.

[MarkerInbound]

The really scary thing is all their eggs aren't in one basket. There is also the Indy hub (IND) plus regional hubs in Newark, Ft. Worth and Oakland.

[bermudatriangle]

i feed to fed ex in europe...just an amazing operation......great to be part of it.

[layinlow]

The picture is a little old and does not show the entire breadth of the of Fed Ex ramp. The ramp shown in the the original picture shows only the NW side of the Fed Ex ramp. Fed Ex now has the entire north side with the way to the east side and of course we will be moving into the ANG ramp soon and the south side hangers all almost done. Fed Ex has their own control tower for ground movement. It is pretty impressive.

[Biggles1049]

HI Guys

Thanks for all your interest and comment re the image .

It was pure luck - fbeing in the right place at the right time !

Never been to Memphis before, did'nt know which runway we were landing on and
what would be seen on approach etc.

Just watching the views - then our jaws dropped when this sight came into
view , a fumble into the bag under the seat to get the camera ( only a 3mp
Sony point and shoot) and time to take one shot through glass & perspex -
not a bad result. - wish I had been better prepared - missed a group of
ATR's that were the in the left hand corner etc.
Then seeing the mass Sunday afternoon departure was most impressive as must be the organisation behind it all

[layinlow]

Fed Ex is probably the one of the best places to work anywhere. The have this PSP philosophy. People, Service, Profit. If you take care of your People, they will provide the Service, that will bring more Profit. This is the Purple Promise and believe me it works. To bad there are not more outfits out there who think this way.
Given the outfit I worked for previously, I know there is no place for the Cato's of the world at Fed Ex.

[Ignition Override]

Those ATRs which were damaged in Greensboro are operated by
Mountain Air Cargo.
A friend here flew their Caravan and F-27 (then earned the ATR type rating) before he left the aviation career. Mountain Air sometimes hired outside pilots to be Captains-it saved them money to ignore seniority and leave experienced FOs guessing when they can upgrade. No union.

Fedex, according to guys who deadhead on us, has no more plans for a Paris Crewbase.
A hub can operate even without a crewbase. There were DC-8 hubs in Brussels years ago but no crewbase for some companies.

The worsening dollar/euro problem was a factor. The Hong Kong Crewbase might not happen, based on what a Fedex pilot told me a week ago, unless I misunderstood

The best of luck to all of you young pilots out there, trying to find a good job.
Our OPEC 'brothers' are not really helping us much with fuel prices-are they?.
Maybe various nations should all withhold weapon systems sales to OPEC countries.

[DOJETDRIVER]

Layinlow wrote;

"Unless there is a change in the union contract I doubt very seriously if there would be any European pilots. All new hires are assigned Memphis base and that would mean a green card. If you have a green card fine, but that still doesn't mean you would get Paris any time soon, if ever. Seniority rules when it comes to bidding equipment and bases."

I'm not sure if you work at purple. But not ALL new hires (when they were hiring) went to MEM. Many went to ANC back in the "purple nugget" days.

Also, isn't there a limitation due to the USPS contract? Unless it was for military duty or some other U.S government reason, living abroad is a showstopper as far as getting hired as FedEx. Or rather, living abroad and NOT having a U.S. residence address is.

[SpringHeeledJack]

Fedex does seem a great company to work for, but how is it possible that every flight crew member must be a US citizen, or at least a green card holder and have a US residential address to work there ?

Also, how is it possible that the Paris hub (and others) cannot be staffed by highly qualified 'locals' ? If say AF,BA,LH etc wanted to do the same in the US, that would be deemed illegal and i dare say legally challenged under 'restraint of labour' laws.

If someone in the know could explain i'd appreciate understanding the situation.


Thanks


SHJ

[DOJETDRIVER]

"Fedex does seem a great company to work for, but how is it possible that every flight crew member must be a US citizen, or at least a green card holder and have a US residential address to work there ?

Also, how is it possible that the Paris hub (and others) cannot be staffed by highly qualified 'locals' ? If say AF,BA,LH etc wanted to do the same in the US, that would be deemed illegal and i dare say legally challenged under 'restraint of labour' laws.

If someone in the know could explain i'd appreciate understanding the situation.


Thanks


SHJ"

SHJ, if an American wanted to work for a foreign airline, would they not be subject to the SAME restrictions of that nation's version a green card? The U.S. residence has to do with the contract that FDX has with the USPS.

Also, I don't think it would be illegal for a foreign airline to put pilot domicile in the U.S. Besides, IF they were to staff the CDG base with "locals" as you say (which isn't going to happen since it got canceled) they would have to have U.S. FAA certificates to fly N registered aircraft, would they not?

I've ran into Canadians in LAX that are LAX based with CX but live in YVR. If I'm not mistaken, NCA has pilots that are not U.S. nationals that are SFO based as well.

[SpringHeeledJack]

DOJETDRIVER

Thanks for your perspective. In your examples are the aircrew agency or directly employed by the airlines ?

I guess my curiosity was piqued by the seemingly biased employment strategy by (in this case) Fedex and some of the other major US international airlines whereby foreign bases are opened and nationals of that country are precluded, yet when the boot is on the other foot it seems that it is possible to be accomodated :confused:

Would it make business sense to have foreign divisions whereby the aircraft are registered in that country and thus allow more flexible working practices and who knows perhaps even tax advantages.

As Fedex is such a great company it might be nice to spread the love around a bit more :}


Regards


SHJ

[MarkerInbound]

"Would it make business sense to have foreign divisions whereby the aircraft are registered in that country and thus allow more flexible working practices and who knows perhaps even tax advantages."

Well, yes but the union would raise all sorts of problems.

[ZFT]

During the B727-2S2F project I was based at FedEx for about a year. I recall going onto the ramp on Thanksgiving 1987. Just about every FedEx aircraft was parked there.

That was an unforgettable sight..

[layinlow]

DOJETDRIVER

I was just repeating what whas said at basic indoc. What happened a while back I am not sure what the policy was. Curious, were the ANC assignements considered junior assignments?

And to SpringHeeledJack
Can you imagine the logistical and regulatory nightmares if a carriers aircraft were under different regulations. JAA, CAB, CAA, JCAB, and CCA would crete a real logistical nightmare with the differing regulations though. And as to foreigners working in Europe, I worked for LH flying the 727 and I doubt seriously I would be able to work for them again without an EU residency and work permit. Same with Japan, I had to jump through a lot of hoops prior to working for them back when. Now, forget it.