FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Raj Subramaniam: Okay. Helane, a couple of questions there. So first, as it relates to the aspects of the pilot tentative agreement there, a component of that is a payment upon implementation. So we’ve previously accrued for that date of signing payment there. And then within the guidance here, we have the FY ’24 scale increases and then within the pension figures I gave earlier, that incorporates the considerations as it relates to that as well. So that’s fully incorporated into the outlook there. And as we mentioned earlier, we’re expecting to park 29 additional aircraft during the year, nine of which will be permanently retired.

Operator: The next question will come from Scott Schneeberger with Oppenheimer. Please go ahead.

Scott Schneeberger: Thanks very much. Good afternoon. I’m going to keep it on the airplanes. Just curious on freight, if you could kind of frame the answer in where you were a year ago, where you are now, and where you anticipate being in a quarter or two with regard to taking out flights, Trans-Pacific, Trans-Atlantic, Asia, Europe? If we could just get an update on that for what you’ve done and what may come going forward? Thanks.

Mike Lenz: Scott, look, as Raj mentioned, flight hours were down 12% in the fourth quarter, which is greater than the volume decline, so we’ve taken significant flying out of the network. We’ve said that that was anticipated once the supply-demand constraints were eased and so that is the decision to then retire these aircrafts because we continue to reduce the Trans-Pacific and Trans-Atlantic flying to match demand, and we’ll continue to lean into that as well as utilizing the flexibility of capacity in the market.

Operator: The next question will come from David Vernon with Bernstein. Please go ahead.

David Vernon: Hey, thanks for fitting me in here. So, Mike, in the scenarios you’ve outlined for us, is there a scenario where margins on a consolidated basis don’t get better on an adjusted basis in 2023 or are we looking for margin expansion? And then, Brie, as you think about the large customer change in behavior, I assume we’re talking about the post office, are we expecting more of that priority mail revenue to decline given what [DeJoy] (ph) said publicly around the desire to Ground some of that traffic, and then how do we think about that sort of in connection with that your desire also to kind of reduce the fly network a bit.

Raj Subramaniam: Yes, I mean, David, the short answer is we’re projecting margin improvement with the outcomes here that we have highlighted and specific drivers within that.

Brie Carere: Yes, the customer we are talking about is the United States Postal Service. Obviously, we’ve had a long and productive and profitable relationship with the post office, you’re correct. Their 10-year strategic plan is to track more volume and fly less, so to Mike’s point earlier, we have accounted for that in this year’s fiscal range. We are committed to meeting the service obligations in that contract, which does end in September 2024 and so we’ve accounted for that headwind. At that point, it will become a tailwind as we either renegotiate or we will adjust our network accordingly.

Operator: The next question will come from Stephanie Moore with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Joseph Hafling: Great. Good evening. This is actually Joe Hafling on for Stephanie. Thanks for squeezing me at the end. I’ll keep it to one. My question is maybe for Mike, it’s a bit in the weeds, looking at Ground operating profit expansion, purchased transportation costs are obviously down big year-over-year at 40%, I think it’s the lowest percent of revenue in 10-years or something with the softer macro, so how should we think about PT, particularly in the context of a volume rebound and the need to maybe source third-party capacity if the macro improves, especially as more cost are coming out of the network? Thank you.