The View from Global Operations Control

Hundreds of computer screens are in view as I look out over the control center, on one side of the room is a video wall displaying real time information about locations and conditions of aircraft flying all over the world. Radio and phone calls come in and go back out, conveying vital information about the tactical operation. No, this is not a command bunker under the Pentagon. I’m standing in FedEx Express Global Operations Control, known to most employees as GOC.

To put it one way….this is the Central Nervous System of the Global Express Network. Directing a fleet of 672 aircraft and 44,000 vehicles is no simple task, but you wouldn’t know it from the calm and methodical way the GOC team go about accomplishing that task. The GOC mission is to exercise command and control over the Express line haul system while achieving safety, service, and efficiency goals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This command and control entity has been in place since the first day Federal Express began operations over 35 years ago.  We have smaller centers in Indianapolis, Paris, London, Toronto and Hong Kong that play a vital role in the command and control structure of FedEx.

GOC is called upon numerous times a day to manage impacts to our Global network of all types; Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico to Super Typhoons in the Western Pacific; Earthquakes in China, Tornados in Arkansas; Tsunami in the Indian Ocean; Volcano erupting near Alaska, a war on the other side of the world to an over turned tanker truck near the Los Angeles airport. Global Operations Control watches for it all and is tasked with managing through it and adjusting our system to reduce or eliminate any impact to our system.