FedEx engages in extortion

FedEx may delay plane buys if union bill passes....
"and we'll just buy our planes from Airbus then"

Wow. You know things have changed in this country when a corporation can publicly threaten America like this.
(not that this is new or anything)

Here's the story:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FEDEX_CONGRESS_WARNING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-03-24-19-41-16

We've got to reverse a LOT before this country reaches normalcy again.

That's proved a winner. Eh, Fred?

Are your people OK?

Both are still out flying the long, thin far-Asia FedEx line, so I haven't gleaned 1st hand MD-11er's opionions. But it shan't be pretty. The bird is a POS. Nay, a death trap. Mark my word.

was there some weird pitch-up just before the initial touchdown?

I'm not a pilot so I have absolutely no firsthand experience but I guess you can call me an enthusiast. On another forum it was said that the MD-11 uses the same wing design as the DC-10 it replaced but because the newer plane is heavier the wings aren't sized correctly. There have been other similar flip-over crashes with MD-11s, one was a FedEx plane at Newark Airport in NJ about 10 years ago.

But most if not all of what you are reading on other forums is BS. The airplane handles just fine at low speeds.

As you know, two crewmembers lost their lives in Narita. Your post is offensive and inappropriate.

Aren't you a retired pilot? If so, you should know better.

Perhaps I should have included the :sarcasm: thingy. I'm criticizing Fred Smith for again putting his pilots in danger (see post #9). As an ALPA airline accident investigator and aviation writer I have been outspoken on safety disparities between the passenger airlines and the night-flying box-haulers (FedEx, UPS, etc). I have been particularly critical of the MD-11 (a DC-10 derivative that gets rid of the 3rd flight deck crew-member .. the flight engineer .. a wet-dream of anti-unionists like Fred Smith) and it's safety record vis-a-vis the wing-breakage during hard landings in two prior accidents. The photo I posted was indeed the FedEx MD-11 at Newark, NJ (KEWR), in 1997 .. not the recent Narita tragedy.

I apologize if I offended you. However, I disagree that my post was inappropriate and, I must say (given my passion for airline safety) that it was the type post I often make in the wake of something that perhaps should not have happened. If you study my comments closely, you will find no criticism of the crew. I'll leave that to the Japanese accident investigators and the NTSB, an invited party to the investigation.

they just crashed and burned one at Narita international airport in Japan - both pilots killed - hope you didn't have any packages on board because it burned to the ground.

:(

way to go you morons!

LOL.

Trickier overseas for overnighters.

Foot stomping behaviors like this are almost NEVER good for business.

UPS, Fed-Ex and DHL often do the cross-country haul of their packages and leave the local delivery to the Post Office. In turn, last I checked for their absolute rapid overnight service USPS utilizes DHL.

Mark.

Their driver won't deliver to my house at all because he didn't like my yard signs during the election, and even after I wrote a letter to the president of UPS, they won't do a fucking thing about it. I think management is scared of the union.

They lost all my business. Now all my vendors deliver to me by other means. Fuck 'em.

Did he tell you he didn't like your yard signs?

David

Unless one of your signs said "Trespassers Will Be Shot" that package car driver will do as he's told and make the delivery.

If you think for one minute that a driver's personal political leanings allow him to decide where or if he will deliver to, you've never had dealings with either a union or the management at UPS. They would have both explained to him what his job description is, and what it entailed.

There is either another real reason he refused delivery, such as a safety issue (and trust me on this one, management will come out and take pics of your property to substantiate the claim) or you are being misleading.

I worked as a summer casual for Buster Brown in the feeder division back in '99.

:shrug:

I helped the FedEx pilots organize and vote for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), AFL-CIO. It was a tough nut at first. Many a FedEx pilot looked at former USAF F-4 pilot (Viet Nam) Fred Smith as their friend and ally. BWAAA HAAA HAAA HAAA! They learned. They turned to their Daddy-Mac and joined the friggin' union!

Last I checked, Airbus was unionized.

:sarcasm:

Poor FedEx. Good I'll boycott them.

Crazeee! Eh?

:sarcasm:

They are part of the Air Line Pilots Association.

It is routine for FedEx to be in violation of the contract. They have a constant "sue me" attitude. One need only see the movie "Cast Away" to "get" that. Who else would WANT their company name/logo on an airplane crash that killed all the pilots?

Frederick W. Smith -- went to Yale with GWB.

Why do you think the NFL stadium in Washington, DC is "FedEx Field"? To schmoooze Congress.

Don't buy your planes from airbus..

Fuck you Fed Ex.