Company Reorganization Clouds the Crystal Ball

FedEx pilots remain locked in irritating negotiations with their employer, languishing in federally mediated bargaining.

It's a tough spot to be in, sitting in detention long after the rest of the kids finished their lunch and went out to recess–but FedEx pilots deserve a better contract, and this process is the only way to get it. Just about everyone in the rest of the mainline carriers seemed to pull off some great contracts in the early twenties, but things are plodding along for the red and blue. From the outside, one could almost wonder if the Air Line Pilots Association is trying to squeeze blood from a stone with some wheeling & dealing, but nope–FedEx is doing just fine on the corporate side, according to the union:

“FedEx continues to report a healthy balance sheet. Over the past twelve months, ending in February 2025, FedEx reported nearly $6 billion in adjusted operating income and collected close to $88 billion in total revenue. The Corporation also rewarded investors by returning more than $4.3 billion through quarterly dividends and stock buybacks, all while refusing to entertain a pilot labor contract that reflects an industry-standard value.”

The company is in the midst of an organizational overhaul, too, which further muddies the waters for pilots. ALPA said that FedEx "has yet to bring forward basic insights into how it plans to employ the pilot group in the future, a major challenge to scope bargaining efforts." The plan for fiscal year 2026 is to see FedEx Freight spun off in the hopes of unlocking ‘additional shareholder value’, as usual. But the negotiation team says they're still working towards a contract under the old FedEx system. "The current contract under which the pilots operate is based on a decades-old operation that FedEx is clearly signaling looks nothing like its future plans under a One FedEx, Tricolor, Network 2.0 operations strategy.”

“I find it ironic that our guiding motto, the Purple Promise, aims ‘to make every FedEx experience outstanding’,” said Captain Jose Nieves, of the FedEx ALPA Master Executive Council. “But when it comes to investing in the people who safeguard its network operations, FedEx disappears behind that principle. We’re simply asking for a contract that plans—cooperatively—to deliver enduring success to FedEx, its employees, customers, and shareholders alike. After all, that’s what FedEx founder Fred Smith sold us all under the ‘People – Service – Profit’ philosophy that management claims is still alive and well.”

FMI: www.alpa.org