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You're listening to fly by night. A podcast

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by Fedex Pilots for Fedex Pilots.

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Brought to you by the Fedex Master Executive

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Council of the Airline Pilots Association. And now

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here's your host, Nec Communications chair, Captain Chris

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lee. My guest today are scope committee chair,

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Captain Sal Font,

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Scope committee vice chair, first officer Dan Silva,

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and Scope committee member, first officer Luis Qui.

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Thanks for coming. Thanks for having, Chris. Hey,

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Thanks for having us. Thanks, Chris.

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Well, Sal, let's start with you.

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Well, first of all, I would like to

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thank, all, all the pilots out in the

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line for

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for the volume of darts we're receiving.

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The scope committee right now is averaging

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probably over a dart a day.

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We're trying to be pretty good about answering

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those darts,

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we're seeing a turnaround of, probably less than

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24 hours.

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And you guys are eyes out there, and

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we appreciate all the information you're sending. We're

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also committed to continue or the occasional campaign,

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and

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be on the lookout for a more material

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coming out.

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Dan, the last scope podcast was released in

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January.

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Can you update the pilots on any recent

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events developments in the scope world.

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Well, thanks again for having us, Chris, and

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thanks for the pilots for listening this.

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Since our last visit the scope committee has

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been diligently working behind the scenes. Our primary

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focus is safeguard

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master senior list pilot jobs.

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We ensure that if freight needs to be

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transported by air. It's done so on planes

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operated by our pilots in accordance with the

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Cb.

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To accomplish this, we require access information, which

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historically, we've had pretty limited access to.

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However, thanks to our volunteers in the dart

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reports we received from line pilots we've developed

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a method of tracking and verifying network changes.

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This tracking capability allows us to see how

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our schedule is constructed and how the company

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arrange the air network, it also sheds light

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on their utilization of third party lift for

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freight movements.

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Please keep the darts coming. They're incredibly helpful.

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Also, when we get a dart showing Fedex

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containers being loaded on another carrier, We can

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see how it's moved within our system. This

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is how we were able to notify the

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pilots about the company's expanded use of 1B4

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provisions, commonly referred to as belly freight. Out

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of Honolulu, and as the company just recently

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acknowledged the transition of the Bengal to do

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dubai route to indigo cargo air.

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And when the company operates the way you

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just described, how do they justify it?

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In the case of Honolulu,

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specifically, Section 1 4 of our Cb allows

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for the company to move freight utilizing a

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variety of methods, the most visible of which

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is, of course. Belly freight or freight on

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passenger carriers.

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Episode 2 of the scope education series covered

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this in more detail, but to quickly recap,

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the company can purchase space on other carriers

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outside the contiguous 48 states to move freight,

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quote, as required.

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We've received information and then verified that 1

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of these carriers is a aloha air cargo

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out of Honolulu. In addition to all the

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cargo being shipped on passenger airlines.

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Well, how does this work outside the Us?

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The company has even more leeway since they

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can also engage in full outsourcing as is

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the case with Indigo being contracted to operate

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the Bengal route.

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The company has also ramped up the utilization

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of capacity purchase agreements with international carriers both

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cargo and passenger routes out of India. This

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has led to an overall decrease in Ms

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l flying in this region, which happens to

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be 1 of the fastest growing in global

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economic importance. And a developing strategic manufacturing hub.

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Traditionally, the company has said that they would

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rather utilize company assets to move high priority

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freight and utilize, quote, belly rate for lower

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value deferred cargo or for markets that can't

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justify a dedicated Fedex flight.

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They've even recently doubled down on this rate

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with their tri network

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explanation.

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As we've stated in our recent communication, it's

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not just low yield economy products being shipped

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by other carriers, but also international priority freight.

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As to why the company would choose to

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do this, we enter the realm of speculation

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it's of great concern to us that the

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practice is increasing while B on many of

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our fleets are below contractual minimums

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and aircraft are parked in storage.

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But

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When the company talks about the decrease in

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master senior lists flying in Europe,

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they usually blame low volumes as to why

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flying being diverted to Asl.

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Can you talk about that some?

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Sure.

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First, it's important to emphasize that we as

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pilots have no control over the company's fleet

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planning.

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Also, we must analyze the following facts. We

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are now over the 3 year mark of

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contract negotiations.

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We've seen our overall hours decrease. And the

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size of our pilot for shrink partially due

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to attrition in resignation.

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Initially, this reduction was attributed due to the

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softer demand environment post Covid.

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In Europe, specifically, the company said that volumes

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were so low that it warranted smaller aircraft.

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Therefore, 07:30 sevens operated by Asl and feeder.

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As air cargo demand has started to recover,

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especially this year, we have failed to see

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that flying return to our pilots.

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In fact, loads in Europe are showing gradual

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improvement, and we're seeing multiple

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combinations of Asl and feeder aircraft being deployed

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on routes instead of returning it to hour

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07:50 sevens. In Asia and the Middle East,

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we are now seeing the same playbook being

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used.

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Purple tales are pulled from routes and replaced

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with capacity purchase agreements, or flat out outsourcing

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like the case with Indigo out of Bengal.

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The vice president of Flight ops states that

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India is a market they intend to expand

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while in the same letter announcing that this

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expansion is favoring the use of the global

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partner network.

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The fact that these replacements are occurring is

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concerning and raises more quest.

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We will continue to sort through data to

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get some answers to those questions.

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Well Luis, the Ipa recently published a contract

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comparison that caused a lot of conversation, especially

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among our pilots. Can you talk to the

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pilots some about the differences between our contract

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and Ipa contract?

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Sure, Chris. Thanks again for having us.

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First, we have to emphasize that there's philosophical

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differences in how the Ipa approaches scope.

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If you look at their contract, their focus

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is on the freight.

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Our approach is more about the flying than

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the actual freight that is loaded on the

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aircraft.

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There are also key differences in definitions. What

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we call wet leasing and belly freight, that

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could be 1 before, 1B6 and 1B7 in

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our contract, they call sub contracting and common

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carrier limits.

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Ups also defines domestic as any flying that

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touches the entire United States, not just a

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contiguous 48 states,

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regardless of whether it originated or terminated within

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the United States,

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and they call international, any flying conducted solely

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outside of the United States.

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We'll talk to the pilots some about the

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core differences in their scope when it's compared

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to our scope.

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Alright. For example, Ups is limited in the

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amount of time that they can utilize wet

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leases

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and the calendar period.

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Basically, they can only utilize this during peak,

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If management wishes to exceed these limits, they

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must first reach out to the Ipa for

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a mutual agreement.

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The Ipa is not permitted to un reasonably

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deny these requests for extensions.

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This contrasts with our contract in which any

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exceed of the limits set in the Cb

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has to be overcome by the company making

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excess wet lease penalty payments.

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With regards to our 1B4

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or belly freight,

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Ups has limits on the number of containers

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that can be loaded on a commercial carrier,

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referred to under contract as common carriage limits.

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And these limits are both per flight, per

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week and vary depending on the market.

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Our Cb on the other hand limits this

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based on geography.

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So domestic versus international, but no set amount

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of container or payload limits.

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Internationally as defined by our contract, Fedex is

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allowed to utilize 1 before provisions to move

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freight on other airlines, including cargo carriers,

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quote, as required.

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We get a lot of questions about extra

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territorial flying in the Ups contract does address

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that. Can you talk about this some more?

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Sure, Chris, the issue of extra territory flying

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is on a lot of our pilot's radar,

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especially after the closure of the colon cologne

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Fda and the drawdown of the Ms cell

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intra Europe flying.

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While this is the most visible example of

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the company shifting flying that used to be

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done by Fedex pilots to foreign operators.

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It is by no means the biggest threat.

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In fact,

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a large percentage of our flying is extra

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territorial,

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and

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in the triple 7 fleet, for example, it

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exceeds a third of their flying.

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This is flying that is done entirely outside

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the United States.

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Attempting to protect extra territorial flying is a

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complex subject because it is not clearly inside

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the jurisdiction of the railway Labor Act.

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And therefore, not a mandatory subject of bargaining.

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There are also legal concerns about enforcing commitments

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regarding extra territorial flying even if the company

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agrees to negotiate over the issue.

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The Ipa and Ups have agreed to protect

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a significant amount of extra a territorial of

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flying in their Cb

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and have provisions in place on how to

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address disputes arising because of this. The To

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our knowledge,

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so far, there has not been a dispute

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between the parties regarding extra territory flying that

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has resulted in the courts weighing in on

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the issue.

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Per the Ups cb, the company is required

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to utilize company aircraft and Ms missile pilots

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whenever feasible in international markets both for existing

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routes, and for new routes management may wish

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to open.

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However, there are some complex carve outs and

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limitations to provide Ups with some flexibility to

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their international market.

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They also have contractual limits to ensure that

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their supply chain solutions subsidiary,

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which makes recommendations based on available lift doesn't

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negatively impact Ipa flying.

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So, Chris, while reviewing the Ipa contract comparison,

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we found their information accurate when looked at

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from their perspective.

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However, Fedex pilots need to consider the key

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differences in definitions and scope philosophies.

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As well as structural differences between the 2

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companies.

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Thanks, Louise and Dan.

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Sal, I'll close with you. Any final thoughts?

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Well, we're encouraged by the palace engagement with

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scope issues and appreciate all the darts we've

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received from palo flying the line.

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Well, we have certain tracking capabilities we're still

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depending our pilots being our eyes and ears

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on the line. So please,

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and I apologize to sound repetitive, but please

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keep the darts coming. Thanks very much.

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Thanks again, everyone. And thanks for listening. If

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you have any question please go to our

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website, fd d x dot alpha dot org

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and utilize the dart link. And as always,

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be safe out there and we'll see you

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next time. And