Fedex founder and ceo Fred Smith stepping down after 50 years

[stranger706]

Pretty amazing career. Came up with the idea in college and turned it into a profit. Say what you will about their home delivery, but the aviation division is world class.

FedEx founder Fred Smith to step down as CEO; Raj Subramaniam to succeed him

Raj Subramaniam will be promoted to FedEx CEO after company founder Fred Smith steps down.

www.commercialappeal.com

 

[HankHill]

Does this mean my packages will start arriving on time?

 

[skyactiv]

Don't get in a vehicle with him if he's behind the wheel.

 

[raaizin]

I worked for them for 35 years. and retired in 2018. My first real job at the age of 22 with no college degree. I was glad to be there in the early days although not quite the beginning. I think I did ok and thankful for the opportunities that the company gave me. Thank you Mr. Smith

 

[john_pifer]

He’s sorta royalty where I’m from.

 

[billt460]

I had read when he used the bulk of the family inheritance to start Fed Ex, his family was just about ready to kill him. They thought he was an idiot thinking he could compete with UPS. Today they can't thank him enough.

 

[Snagglefoot]

I’m thinking he was one of the first people to realize that as the world filled up with jet aircraft, the older ones were turned into cargo planes and suddenly there a were a huge number available. The same thing happened when folks realized you can air cargo fruit from South American countries such as Chile and still sell it for a competitive price in northern countries.

I once tracked an air filter that was sent overland from Sugarland, Texas to the Houston airport, flown to Memphis, loaded onto a jet to Calgary, overland from Calgary to my local town four hours away, then by local carrier to my house. Totally outstanding service and at a cheap price. Who woulda thunk? He did.

 

[Astro14]

I’m thinking he was one of the first people to realize that as the world filled up with jet aircraft, the older ones were turned into cargo planes and suddenly there a were a huge number available. The same thing happened when folks realized you can air cargo fruit from South American countries such as Chile and still sell it for a competitive price in northern countries.

I once tracked an air filter that was sent overland from Sugarland, Texas to the Houston airport, flown to Memphis, loaded onto a jet to Calgary, overland from Calgary to my local town four hours away, then by local carrier to my house. Totally outstanding service and at a cheap price. Who woulda thunk? He did.

Actually, I think FedEx started flying canceled checks and other financial instruments that had to be there overnight. It grew from there.

What’s interesting is the life cycle of airliners. When the utilization is 10+ hours per day, as it is for most passenger operations, fuel efficiency is critically important.

When the utilization drops for cargo operations, as it does for FedEx, then total ownership matters much more. Buying a used 727, that is too much of a gas guzzler to remain in high utilization service, and operating it on two short legs/day, is far cheaper than a new cargo airplane.

So, FedEx, like the rest of the air cargo industry, uses new cargo planes on ping haul routes where fuel matters, and old ones for short haul.

They redefined the airliner life cycle, and an entire industry has been created to convert airplanes like 727, 757, 767, and 777 from passenger to cargo service.

There are a lot of FedEx airplanes flying around with N-numbers (the original registration of the airplane) that end in “UA”. Guess where they got those jets?

 

[Dave Hess]

I worked for them for 35 years. and retired in 2018. My first real job at the age of 22 with no college degree. I was glad to be there in the early days although not quite the beginning. I think I did ok and thankful for the opportunities that the company gave me. Thank you Mr. Smith

What did you do at FedEx ?

 

[y_p_w]

Actually, I think FedEx started flying canceled checks and other financial instruments that had to be there overnight. It grew from there.

What’s interesting is the life cycle of airliners. When the utilization is 10+ hours per day, as it is for most passenger operations, fuel efficiency is critically important.

When the utilization drops for cargo operations, as it does for FedEx, then total ownership matters much more. Buying a used 727, that is too much of a gas guzzler to remain in high utilization service, and operating it on two short legs/day, is far cheaper than a new cargo airplane.

So, FedEx, like the rest of the air cargo industry, uses new cargo planes on ping haul routes where fuel matters, and old ones for short haul.

They redefined the airliner life cycle, and an entire industry has been created to convert airplanes like 727, 757, 767, and 777 from passenger to cargo service.

There are a lot of FedEx airplanes flying around with N-numbers (the original registration of the airplane) that end in “UA”. Guess where they got those jets?

They had to get creative when it came to acceptable noise levels for those older aircraft. I heard that they developed "hush kits" in-house and even sold them to others looking to convert.

They had a few missteps. Anyone remember Zap Mail? That was their attempt to commercialize FAX technology where they had their expensive equipment and would pick up documents to scan and then deliver documents that had been transmitted. I think there might have been an option to install their equipment on-site, but it was maybe tens of thousands of dollars back in the 80s. I didn't quite get it, since digital FAX technology had been around since the 60s, and there were already commercial FAX machines using an open standard and their equipment didn't comply with those standards.

 

[raaizin]

What did you do at FedEx ?

My title was operations Manager when I retired. I started in a position called courier which made deliveries then was in charge of drivers who made deliverie and later at the hub at EWR. Curious why you asked, did you work there also?

 

[raaizin]

They had to get creative when it came to acceptable noise levels for those older aircraft. I heard that they developed "hush kits" in-house and even sold them to others looking to convert.

They had a few missteps. Anyone remember Zap Mail?

If my memory is correct there was a time we made more money off hush-kits than packages. And yes Zap mail never kicked off, I believe it was more for occasional use where it was financially smart to bye the machine to use it only a couple of times. The grounding of the Space Shuttle after the Challenger disaster also set the program back:

Zapmail, and How the Challenger Disaster Got Digital Check Into the Scanning Business - Digital Check Corp.

The first launch of the Challenger Space Shuttle in 1983. The explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle on January 28, 1986, shocked an entire nation and set the U.S. space program back for years. The aftermath affected thousands of individuals, companies and governments in ways that were...

www.digitalcheck.com

 

[y_p_w]

If my memory is correct there was a time we made more money off hush-kits than packages. And yes Zap mail never kicked off, I believe it was more for occasional use where it was financially smart to bye the machine to use it only a couple of times. The grounding of the Space Shuttle after the Challenger disaster also set the program back:

Zapmail, and How the Challenger Disaster Got Digital Check Into the Scanning Business - Digital Check Corp.

The first launch of the Challenger Space Shuttle in 1983. The explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle on January 28, 1986, shocked an entire nation and set the U.S. space program back for years. The aftermath affected thousands of individuals, companies and governments in ways that were...

www.digitalcheck.com

There were still challenges when they introduced Zap Mail in 1984, since FAX machines were rather expensive and there was no guarantee that either end would have one on site. By the time they ended it, large companies could afford to buy tabletop FAX machines. As far as I could tell, in the long term the costs were in that most used thermal paper (plain paper was available but cost more initially) that could get expensive, and it was back when businesses had to pay for long-distance calls by the minute.

Of course these days it's easier to just take a photo of a drawing with a smartphone, and even email it directly from the phone. Heck - I can even do that with messaging.