FedEx Pilots Are FedUp with Protracted Negotiations as FedEx Thrives in Transformation

MEMPHIS, Tenn.—FedEx pilots recently expressed their continued displeasure with protracted contract negotiations while the Corporation marks another successful fiscal year in transformation. The pilot group, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), conducted an informational picket on June 3, 2025, at the FedEx Corporation’s executive offices in Memphis, Tennessee. The demonstration aimed to symbolically represent all the employees being left behind while the Corporation closes its fiscal year, a period which will be celebrated for its success in business transformation strategies.

The Corporation and Association have been embattled in protracted contract negotiations for over four years now. Pilots began bargaining in May 2021, attempting to modernize an outdated labor contract signed back in 2015. The parties initially achieved a tentative agreement in the Summer of 2023, but the pilots rejected an agreement that neither reflected commercial pilot industry standards nor the Corporation’s business transformation efforts. Since then, the Corporation implemented a financially engineered business transformation strategy, while the parties have made scant progress toward an agreement under federal mediation.

“FedEx has had four years to do the right thing, but instead it has chosen to invest in shareholders over its employees,” said Capt. Jose Nieves, chair of the FedEx ALPA Master Executive Council. “The pilots are done waiting. We’ve delivered through crisis and transformation, and we expect to be treated like professionals who enable corporate success.”

Meanwhile, 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. Moreover, the Corporation 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 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 Capt. Nieves. “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.”

The parties met under federally mediated bargaining sessions as recently as last week. With the end of fiscal year 2025, FedEx is expected to announce the conclusion of its fiscally conscious DRIVE cost-cutting program and pivot toward growth under an accelerated network transformation strategy. Fiscal year 2026 will be a crucial time for all stakeholders as the Corporation plans to spin off FedEx Freight, an effort to unlock additional shareholder value. The pilot group insists on transparency in contract negotiations going forward. “We’re looking forward to striking a deal that reflects a bright future and recognizes the value of our efforts to this company,” said Nieves.

-###-

CONTACT: ALPA Media, 703-481-4440 or Media@alpa.org