Freight companies

DE727UPS said:
Maybe three hours on duty early in the morning to an outstation then three hours on duty back in at night. Some people like that.
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Tell it like it is - don't sugar coat it. You fly to an "outstation" early in the morning, sit/sleep/chill/work a second job until the evening when you fly back. Just because they count those split shifts as not being on duty I'd wager that most of us would consider it being on the job. Not very condusive to family life at all - sitting at an outstation all day.

Heck, if you don't consider that part of your work day, then I worked 2 days out of the last 11 sitting on reserve (at home nonetheless!).

With freight flying you'll be rewarded for the hard work with quicker advancement later on in life. You're "investing" so to speak in your future by getting that turbine time. If the majors were hiring right now I bet these jobs would be extremely competitive. If I were single, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

At Amflight first year B99 Capt pay is $2500 ...
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First year B99 pay is $2170 according to your supplied link...why the exaggeration? That's almost $4k/year difference. With no perdiem if you don't fly off your normal route, I'd guessing it can get expensive to eat at the outstations?
 
"First year B99 pay is $2170 according to your supplied link...why the exaggeration?"

I missed a line.

If you're the type that defines work as days away from home and family, then Amflight is more work. If you're the type that defines work as number of hours in the seat per day, you might think Amflight is less work. To each his own. The good news is you don't have to put up with MAPDer's in 135 freight....
 
DE727UPS said:
The good news is you don't have to put up with MAPDer's in 135 freight....
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Ain't that the truth. Had I been single and had 300 more hours, I would've tried to go to Airnet or AMF (probably AMF because I love those '99's). Plus I'd be in much better shape with all that exercise. Ah well. Maybe I'll get furloughed (I can't believe US Air is still in business, it's only a matter of time me thinks) and give it a shot.

~wheelsup
 
subpilot said:
exactly my point. You have to look past the first year when comparing these jobs. Even Airnet only pays apprx $24K-$26K from year 2 to year 5. I did use ASA as an example because I will not , nor should anyone else, ever consider working for a regional such as MESA or Great Lakes.
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Just to let you know, for Airnet anyways, these figures are low. I made more than those figures as a floater my first 6 months. End of year for me, from 16 Jun-31 Dec was $13,566 (not including per diem), which equates to ~$27K. Per diem added another couple thousand (per diem is only paid on the road, so as a floater, I get more per diem than a normal line pilot).

Most line pilots don't have out-and-backs. Some have up to 120 hours/month of flying time, with extra days, etc. (read: bonus bucks). I have averaged about 55 hours per month of flying time, which for a floater is very good. We are guaranteed 10 hours/day (rig) pay, and if you work the 5th day it's all time and a half. Quite a few of our runs have 5th days, so it's not impossible to bring in 30k+...quite a few of the people that have recently upgraded have taken a pay cut to get into the Lear, because they went from a high time run to a base pay Lear run to upgrade.

I will be upgrading in 5-6 months, if I choose to, and I'll have been here a little over 12 months. Upgrades to Lear PIC currently are right around 12-14 months, form my understanding also.

Yes, cargo isn't for everybody. But we do have some people that are very happy with their QOL here. There's a guy in MEM who's been on the run for 1.5 years and had another prop run he had for a year before that. His current run is: leave MEM at 1300 to CPS and back. Done by 1800 every night. He's not looking to upgrade or anything...very happy with where he's at. (Those hours are approximate, don't remember his exact schedule, but he's home in time for his wife every night).

Most of our pilots are home every "night"...yes, it takes some getting used to and yes, it's not for everybody, but do not tell me there's no good QOL here. We have some good runs and some bad ones. There are quite a few people here who are very happy and make the schedule work for them.

Yes, after a few years, the regionals beat Airnet pay. I don't plan on being at Airnet forever...there are other options out there. Remember, we fly boxes. Regionals fly 50+ pax...they should be getting paid more right off the bat, but that's another thread that's been beaten to death already. I'll take my experience at Airnet over being at the regionals any day.

Just my opinion, your mileage may vary. Fly safely out there.

TX
 
Compared to my last freight job, I feel like I hardly work at all at Ameriflight. A couple hours in the morning, a couple hours at night, and I'm done.

I sit a good chunk of the day in a hotel, but that part of the day is pretty much mine. I can do whatever I want- wander around town, go to a movie, watch TV in my hotel room, sleep (in a bed), excercise, whatever. All the same stuff I'd be doing at home, except at home I don't have a TV or a couch, and I sleep on the floor.

A lot of us pack our own food for layovers, which saves money not having to eat out- plus it's better for you.

To each his own I guess. I don't fly freight for the schedule (although it really isn't bad), I'm in for the experience. Twenty-something RJ jockies with gobs of SIC time are a dime a dozen. Hopefully in a few years, a couple thousand hours of freight flying and a bunch of turbine PIC will seperate me from them (taking into account that the majors aren't my goal). Then again, maybe it won't.
 
falconvalley said:
Yep. At those hours you'll be real competitive with Airnet right now. If you get hired, they'll likely put you into a "pool" until you get to 1000 hours or so. Then you can go to training. They don't want their new hires spending too much time in the SIC program. 1000 hours is more of what they want to start training. I've heard that some regionals are hiring pilots with 700/100 and training them right away. If don't mind lots of right seat time and low pay, the regionals will work, but if you want good starting pay (raises not so great) and great PIC time, the freighters are the way to go.
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What exactly do they mean by pool? What do you do while in the pool how do you build hours? Are you flying?
 
descout said:
What exactly do they mean by pool? What do you do while in the pool how do you build hours? Are you flying?
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Hope you dont mind me bumping in, Falcon may answer this better but if you are placed in their pool you pretty much are garunteed a training slot WHEN the slot becomes available and when you meet there hour requirements.

I am currently in the training pool at airnet and they just told me to keep instructing and call Craig Washka every week to let him know my updated times. Once i reach 1050 I will receive a training date, or so they say.

Hope this helps, maybe Falcon will add to it
 
Thanks...I got it now thats what I was thinking after reading through a few more posts. Keep us up to date if you get the training date. Do you know if they are using the 1050 for everybody or does that number jump around with how good you did on the interview or even more so the sim ride? Meaning if you do good they would hire you and start training at a lower TT.?
 
Thanks...I got it now thats what I was thinking after reading through a few more posts. Keep us up to date if you get the training date. Do you know if they are using the 1050 for everybody or does that number jump around with how good you did on the interview or even more so the sim ride? Meaning if you do good they would hire you and start training at a lower TT.?
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Well heres what they told me. 1050 IS the magic number right now.

Craig and Bill white both told me this is due to the fact that class sizes are down to 2 people per class right now. They are even on pilots for the time being.

They both also said that if the need arises for larger class sizes then by all means, yes they would call us in earlier. I know from my interview class of 7 people, only 1 of us actually had 135 minimums.

IF we all got to 1050 at the same time for example, they said that they would call us in based on interview date. I think at this point how WELL you did on the interview doesnt matter, cause if you did good your in the pool, if you did bad your not.

Finally, they said seniority in an actual class is based on TT.

I think i answered more than you asked, but hey :cool:
 
This is kind of to the side but I'm wondering why some of the CFIs who go straight to regionals don't try out freight first before jumping to jets. It seems like a good way for a single guy who is willing to relocate to build up experience, hone stick and rudder skills, and build turbine PIC fast. Are they really that picky about jet turbine PIC time over prop turbine time? I'm a low time private pilot working on my ratings in school so I've been wondering which route is better investment. It seems like all the instructors at my school are aiming towards regional jobs. Why not freight? SJS perhaps?
 
subpilot, as regarding printed pay per hour it can be deceiving. I have a buddy at a "good regional" and he doesnt earn 2 grand a month. Plus he works weekends. Im not saying ameriflight is the greatest thing ever. But I took home more than 2 grand this month and I got another $400+ per diem and I had ten days off and was home every weekend. Plus if you can upgrade to a metro in 12-18 months and make in the forties and never worry about being laid off its not that bad of a deal.
 
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