What Happens to those FE's at FedEx?

[No Fly Zone]

Not long ago we heard that FedEx has officially retired their substantial fleet of 722F aircraft. Don't quote me here, but I think their 727 fleet was easily the world's largest and none (or darn few) had been upgraded to two person (glass?) crewing. The numbers of FEs employed on this fleet must have been substantial and not all of them are qualified pilots. Is FedEx upgrading them or did they all get pink slips? If anyone knows the details, please share. Thanks.:eek:

[Flightmech]

Actually most are qualified pilots except for the over 65s who went into the back seat when they couldn't hold a front one anymore. Most will train and transfer to other fleet types.

[JW411]

An old NW friend of mine called them ROPES.

"Retired Old Pilots - Engineer's Station".

[TowerDog]

Why oh why would somebody at FedEx want to fly past 65..?:sad:

[Flightmech]

4 ex wives maybe?

[larairwings1983]

All 727's with FedEx livery are parked now, matter of fact there are 4 parked with cockpit windows covered sitting North of Guard ramp at MEM. Mostly all pilots will be reassigned at trained on the B-757...some are waiting as long as Dec. 2013 for class reassignment....nice downtime indeed for those.

[No Fly Zone]

@lairairwings,
Thanks for the update. Yes, 12-2013 is a long wait for some of them and ...

I appreciate that the vast majority of the 722 FE's (SOs) are otherwise qualified commercial pilots. Yet, in days past not all FEs were pilots but 'career engineers.' Perhaps FedEx eliminated or upgraded the non-pilot FEs years ago so this is not a current issue for anyone. I do not know and Fed Ex has not responded to my polite inquiry. Do YOU or anyone else know is there were any remaining non-pilot 722 FEs remaining at FedEx when the company finally eliminated all 722s from their flight line? As noted above, time alone may have fixed this potential problem for a very few souls. OTOH, if I read the regulations correctly, otherwise properly qualified FEs were not and are not subject mandatory grounding at age 60 or. now 65. We all know stories of a few captains or FOs who aged out of the pilot role and converted to the FE role, just to keep flying (or other reasons), preferring flying over the simulator-instructor role, frequently continuing well into their 70s.
Thanks again for your input, @lairairwings. There is nothing at stake in my original inquiry and I have no axe to grind. I am often curious about what otherwise qualified professionals do when a rule or regulation forces them to cease active practice a few years before Mother Nature would step in. Believe it or not, some aging professionals actually enjoy their work and are not yet ready for or in need of a a rocking chair on the porch. Best wishes.:ok:

[No Fly Zone]

An excellent question, but Human Nature what it is...

(Perhaps flying past 60/65 might be to escape the most recent of those four wives? All considered, there may be some genuine truth the old marital joke, "I married you for better or for worse, but not for lunch...:=") Thanks for responding.:D

[MarkerInbound]

As best as I can find out, Fed Ex hasn't had any PFEs for at least 5 years. They've always hired pilots and your first seat would most likely be sideways. I think their PFEs were left from when they bought Tigers. So the only folks squeezed out were the ROPES.

[No Fly Zone]

Thanks @MarkerInbound. That makes perfect sense to this old fart. And yes, We''re all well advised to have ROPES on our TIGERS, especially with a few aging PFEs floating around.;) At this point, with the original question properly and thoroughly answered:8, I wish that I could seal or delete the entire thread. Sadly, it will probably remain with us for a decade or more.:ugh: Best wishes to all.