Originally Posted by Autoputzer

My bad. UPS Air Freight has multiple US hubs. FedEx has an international hub in Indianapolis, though.

Yeah, USPS is cheaper and they're getting pretty fast and reliable. Here in Bubba County, UPS contracts out some of the smaller package delivery to USPS.

The USPS office in Bubbaville Beach is usually crowded. But, there's a contracted post office on the military base I used to work on and still have access to. They don't take credit cards, but there's almost never a line. Actually, the clerk there is lonely and welcomes the company.

USPS got rid on the idiot mail carrier we had in Bubba Estates. That improved things greatly.

A friend is a UPS Captain. He was flying chartered business jets, living hand- to-mouth and got laid off right about the time UPS Air Freight started up. He applied, but didn't think he'd get hired. But, he was in the right place at the right time, and got in. He works three weeks and is off a week. They want him at his airplane almost a day beforehand. So, he flies a passenger flight on Monday, flies a UPS jet on Tuesday, chills on Wednesday, flies a UPS jet on Thursday, and takes a passenger flight home on Friday. His seniority keeps him flying in the daytime, and he doesn't do any international flights. He said over the ocean, there's no "Plan B."

My friend's early days with UPS was rough. He said those two flights in the early morning hours every week would kick his ass. He was always tired and he was aging fast. He really enjoys his daytime only schedule now. He had an eight-figure inheritance ($10M+) about 15 years ago. But, he loves his job so much he's going to work until they boot him out at 65.

His wealthy dad paid for his flying lessons when he was young, and let him work at his company off-and-on around his intermittent flying jobs. He kept working his way up in flying jobs, and having a lot of jet time when UPS started up put him over the top. He said he knows he's lucky, but that he also "prepared for being lucky." There's probably a life lesson there.

He's had one close call, a TCAS incident years ago. He was sweating bullets until the cause was determined and it wasn't him. If he'd been the one who ****ed up, he'd have been out of a job.

When heavy jet cockpits went from three seats to two, a lot of pilots who were second officers (flight engineers) lost any hope of getting into the the right front seat. A lot of jet pilots lost their jobs after 9-11 and never got them back. My friend said he was glad he was flying freighters after 9-11.