Ameriflight

Inverted said:
Ya I would argue that it is probably the lowest paid freight operator when you compare similar airframes. I think the pay over at West Air is way better flying Caravans than flying anything in the AMF arsenal.
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Yeah, but you need better pay to convince someone to be flying a caravan in around in the dead of winter. Although they don't have to touch a box which is pretty nice. They're ops are way better from a QOL standpoint.

Be99 drivers over at Alpine get paid more than AMF guys, but those Alpine pilots have a lot more crap to put up with and not the hotel/apartment option on the layovers. This was from a conversation I had with some Alpine pilots on the BFI ramp a few years back.
 
Well the QOL does depend on the base at AMF, but Alpine is highly regarded as a pretty crappy place to be. There are more comparable places to AMF with similar equipment that get paid more, and have better working conditions.
 
chrisreedrules said:
Is there some kind of benefit to being at an outfit like Ameriflight for that long?
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No benefit. If there is somebody flying the line 18-20 years its because they can't get a job anywhere else because they're too weird.

Management is different. There are some good guys in management that have been there a while, make good salaries and have progressed through the ranks.
 
I would submit that the majority of those who have been at AMF for more than 10 years, have decided to stay because of the location or comfort with what they are doing. Yeah, sometimes it is a less than pleasant job, but you are home every night. Pay is livable. And any other job you find involves moving, pay cuts, or being on the road. Not everyone is in search of a airline gig that brings in 100,000k and allows you to "travel the world". Many just see it as a way to bring home 45-50k a year, and be home every night while still having a flying job.
 
flyboy6585 said:
I would submit that the majority of those who have been at AMF for more than 10 years, have decided to stay because of the location or comfort with what they are doing. Yeah, sometimes it is a less than pleasant job, but you are home every night. Pay is livable. And any other job you find involves moving, pay cuts, or being on the road. Not everyone is in search of a airline gig that brings in 100,000k and allows you to "travel the world". Many just see it as a way to bring home 45-50k a year, and be home every night while still having a flying job.
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No.
 
flyboy6585 said:
Many just see it as a way to bring home 45-50k a year, and be home every night while still having a flying job.
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So eating Top Ramen in a 3 bedroom apartment with roommates and getting to be home from 10pm to 430am is the reason these people became pilots!?

I don't remember where these pay scales top out at I don't know anyone making 50k flying a 99.

Actually you just proved my above statement about people being too weird to work anywhere else.
 
Inverted said:
No benefit. If there is somebody flying the line 18-20 years its because they can't get a job anywhere else because they're too weird.

Management is different. There are some good guys in management that have been there a while, make good salaries and have progressed through the ranks.
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Inverted said:
Happens all over. Line pilots that have been at AMF for 10+ years have all been too weird to function at a normal job. They would be horrible interacting with people so hauling freight is perfect for them.
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flyboy6585 said:
I would submit that the majority of those who have been at AMF for more than 10 years, have decided to stay because of the location or comfort with what they are doing. Yeah, sometimes it is a less than pleasant job, but you are home every night. Pay is livable. And any other job you find involves moving, pay cuts, or being on the road. Not everyone is in search of a airline gig that brings in 100,000k and allows you to "travel the world". Many just see it as a way to bring home 45-50k a year, and be home every night while still having a flying job.
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z987k said:
No.
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Inverted said:
So eating Top Ramen in a 3 bedroom apartment with roommates and getting to be home from 10pm to 430am is the reason these people became pilots!?

I don't remember where these pay scales top out at I don't know anyone making 50k flying a 99.

Actually you just proved my above statement about people being too weird to work anywhere else.
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Six year guy chiming in...

Actually flyboy has a point. There is a lot of reasons I'm still here. I started out in the chieftain my first year and made 35 grand. The most I've made so far is 65 grand flying the metro. I've never been furloughed. I have weekends off. My wife likes me home every night. I've made more than my friends that have been at the regionals six years and are still on fo pay. Ive bought a really nice home on my current pay. I had an interview a while back at another place but was beat out by someone who was a bit more experienced than me. Actually amf works out a little better than that gig would have. I will be looking to move on in the future but this gig is working out good for me right now. Did I mention I only have a three day work week?
 
KLB said:
Six year guy chiming in...

Actually flyboy has a point. There is a lot of reasons I'm still here. I started out in the chieftain my first year and made 35 grand. The most I've made so far is 65 grand flying the metro. I've never been furloughed. I have weekends off. My wife likes me home every night. I've made more than my friends that have been at the regionals six years and are still on fo pay. Ive bought a really nice home on my current pay. I had an interview a while back at another place but was beat out by someone who was a bit more experienced than me. Actually amf works out a little better than that gig would have. I will be looking to move on in the future but this gig is working out good for me right now. Did I mention I only have a three day work week?
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You tell 'em KB!

KB and I went through one of the worst job climates at AMF, but we never got furloughed and I remember receiving calls from friends at regionals getting furloughed asking if we were hiring. Only months before telling me how they were too good to go fly freight.

Just like KB, I was able to meet my wife while working at AMF and while we were dating and married for the first two and a half years I was home every night , making descent money in the Metro, weekends off, and holidays off. That was huge for our marriage.

I was at AMF for six and a half years, and probably was some of the most fun flying I'll probably ever do.

Most of my friends and acquaintances I knew from AMF that went on to bigger and better things were with the company between 4-6 years. After that time they usually had a handful of type ratings under their belts, plenty of PIC time, international experience, Check Airman, Training Captain, etc., etc. Yes, there are some lifers there, but good for them. They have found their niche.

My experience at AMF definitely prepared me for my current job. The MD80 is such a mechanical airplane that coming from a Metro was easier than I think for some of these guys coming from RJs. I was the only guy in my class of 16 without any jet time, but I proved to my instructors that I deserved to be there and I worked my butt off. I remember my check airman who did my initial SIC PC, told me afterwards, "I'm telling management that we need to be hiring more of you turboprop freight guys". Myself and another AMF guy in the previous class got through in what sounds like minimal time.
 
The Metro and 1900 are my goals once I get to AMF. I love both aircraft and nothing beats turboprops. I've had a little experience in both jets and props and I much prefer the tp. Hard to beat climbing out over a 1500ft obstacle in a King Air.
 
Just a different perspective, but there are two sides to the "home every night" thing that people keep mentioning.

At my shop we serve one UPS hub, Denver. The DEN based Metro drivers here are on the road early on Monday, either jumpseating or driving to their outstations in company vehicles. The fly the inbound Monday night, duty off around 8:30-9:00, and have a 0500 show time the next morning. Do that all week until Sat AM, when once the airplane gets to the outstation those guys either jumpseat or drive back to Denver.

Bottom line: those guys have 5 8-hour nights (meaning walk out the door at work, and then walk back in 8 hours later) and a day and a half on the weekend to "live" in Denver. More power to the guys that choose to do that, but in the words of one of my newly upgraded coworkers: "I haven't seen my wife all week!"

On the flip side, should you choose to live in your outstation you are there every day, save 5 nights a week that you fly into Denver. You duty on at roughly 1800 (exactly when depends on the leg) and duty off in the AM around 0800.

While we have long term guys doing each kind of rotation it seems to me like the outstation based guys are a little happier.
 
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