Freight opportunity for low-ish hour

flyinghedgehog

flyinghedgehog

Well-Known Member
Here we go again!

I am applying for Ameriflight and is about to do video interview. In case that does not pan out would like to see what other companies out there that you would recommend.

I am at about 1400 hours, all 135 minimum met except for being 50 hours short on night time.


I have checked all Fedex feeders and since they do single pilot in Caravans there is no getting on with them till I meet the 100 hour night time minimum.

Looking for companies that are ethical, decent equipment (reads good mx. Will not complain about paint job, lack of GPS ,etc) , comply with regulations (or at least doing their best to comply, the world is not black and white)

Thanks a lot for your input.
 
You could try Freight Runner's Express. https://freightrunners.applicantpro.com/jobs/439121.html They hire First Officers for their EMB-120 so you would be eligible. I know a few people who have flown for them, although it was a few years ago, and they don't sound too sketchy.

Air Cargo Carriers would probably be an option as well, apparently they will be having an FO class this spring. https://www.aircar.com/careers.aspx . It seems like there has been some discussion of them on here before, but not in the last few years, and I don't know all that much about them.
 
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It sounds like you might have already made your decision, but I had a friend flying with Alpine and he was paid very well. He said the Wyoming bases were pretty laid back, but Denver he was very overworked. I was considering their Sioux Falls base a long time ago, because for some reason I really liked it there. http://alpine-air.com/ They're also hiring for SLC which is a more fun town than you'd think. He had around the same time you did started off in the 99 and was put in a 1900 within 3 or 4 months, but he had some FO time in that with his previous job.

I'd be patient before you run into something with the wrong company for you. You might also want to look into Mountain Air Cargo, Empire Airlines, Baron Aviation, Corporate Air and Wiggins (which is owned by Ameriflight now and also has twin turboprops) and see if you can't apply for the base you want. You're not going to get much vacation time flying freight so you might as well choose a base and route you want. I considered Wiggins awhile back because they had a route in which at the time would've been excellent for my personal life and family life. Also the Fedex feeder pilots do a lot less work as they don't load or unload and have been historically treated much better than their UPS flying equivalents (I know things are improving elsewhere) Not to mention you're flying very well equipped and maintained Fedex owned Caravans.

I have heard horror stories in the past regarding Ameriflight and while at FSI getting trained I ran into at least one if not a few guys who were leaving Ameriflight for Empire. I also had a co-worker who was promised a certain base when he got hired on a few years back and then they tried sending him to Nebraska. He said to hell with that and started flying survey for a laid back company where he made much more.

That said there are a lot of other companies too. I've heard good things about Rampart http://rampartaviation.com/jobs/ and there's Dynamic Aviation too which is looking for SICs for international mapping and ISR work.

There is also Berry Aviation which has paid pretty well. http://berryaviation.atsondemand.com/ There's someone on this forum that often looks for pilots for the on demand stuff. I saw him asking a few months back.

There's also http://www.flyglo.com/careers/ They're 135 so you don't need ATP mins and you'd be living in New Orleans. I know nothing of pay, scheduling or QoL though unfortunately.
 
Srn121,

It is not like I have decided. Thing is I would consider reasonable employee and found the freight side of things to be a lot more responsive. So far crickets from survey....I am concerned that if I am too picky my currency will create more issues.

I have checked a couple of fedex feeders, most of them require 100 night and said 50 hours (that I have right now) is not enough for them to put me in class. I will try Alpine but their multi time requirement is like 300, which I don't have. Put that with 50 hours night short it may be challenging, unless they are willing to put me in the right seat for a couple hours...
 
flyinghedgehog said:
I have checked a couple of fedex feeders, most of them require 100 night and said 50 hours (that I have right now) is not enough for them to put me in class. I will try Alpine but their multi time requirement is like 300, which I don't have. Put that with 50 hours night short it may be challenging, unless they are willing to put me in the right seat for a couple hours...
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IFR 135 minimums require 100 hours of night or at least they used to so most freight companies might give a similar answer, but try away as some are offering bonuses like Wiggins. I'm a bit surprised Ameriflight would be willing to help you build so much time, but thats really cool of them.
 
Hedgehog,

I was like you, short of night time. The owner of my flight school where I worked let me have a Cessna 150 just for the price of gas and oil. I gladly did, and built up my 100 hours of night. Would your boss and your flight school let you do something like that?
 
Get a few more hours in a Cessna and go to regional of choice??? People must have very particular personal reasons to devote years of their career to this section of the industry after reaching ATP mins considering the current airline hiring environment. No substitute for seniority, just sayin'.
 
flyinghedgehog said:
Srn121,

It is not like I have decided. Thing is I would consider reasonable employee and found the freight side of things to be a lot more responsive. So far crickets from survey....I am concerned that if I am too picky my currency will create more issues.

I have checked a couple of fedex feeders, most of them require 100 night and said 50 hours (that I have right now) is not enough for them to put me in class. I will try Alpine but their multi time requirement is like 300, which I don't have. Put that with 50 hours night short it may be challenging, unless they are willing to put me in the right seat for a couple hours...
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I was in the exact same position as you 8 years ago. I drove to Dallas to do the interview. They liked me but said 50 hours wasn't close enough to hire me. They said to let them know when I was within 25 hours. I wish they had let me know that before I interviewed.
 
flyinghedgehog said:
Here we go again!

I am applying for Ameriflight and is about to do video interview. In case that does not pan out would like to see what other companies out there that you would recommend.

I am at about 1400 hours, all 135 minimum met except for being 50 hours short on night time.


I have checked all Fedex feeders and since they do single pilot in Caravans there is no getting on with them till I meet the 100 hour night time minimum.

Looking for companies that are ethical, decent equipment (reads good mx. Will not complain about paint job, lack of GPS ,etc) , comply with regulations (or at least doing their best to comply, the world is not black and white)

Thanks a lot for your input.
Click to expand...

Have you tried Empire Air? Better pay, better aircraft, better schedule than Ameriflight. Only need IFR min hours for Caravan.
 
The recruiter is super nice but no, i really need those 50 hours night time. I am starting to seriously consider paying for those myself...
 
flyinghedgehog said:
The recruiter is super nice but no, i really need those 50 hours night time. I am starting to seriously consider paying for those myself...
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There might be some people nearby you could split time with or get a cheap plane to build time in. If you didn't mind flying your ass off you'd pay it back shortly with the bonus you got from many of the regionals. I guess it depends on where you want to go as even Horizon's likely to have a big bonus by the end of the month.
 
av8tr1 said:
Have you tried Empire Air? Better pay, better aircraft, better schedule than Ameriflight. Only need IFR min hours for Caravan.
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The better pay part is no longer accurate (though it was for a long, long time) for Empire. Starting pay at the two is around the same and the pay scale still tops out higher at Empire if you were to look at comparable equipment to the Caravan (PA31 and 99). But....If you were to look at what the pay scales do within the first 3 years or so, AMF actually edges out now...Plus they offer quite a few bonus opportunities to people looking to stick around for a couple years. Not sure what if any bonuses are available at Empire, but from what I gather from a friend of mine who recently left there, there really aren't any. Now as far as aircraft and qol goes....Empire still wins. Minus the fact that they only have 1 engine, the FedEx Caravan's are still some of the nicest 135 freight haulers out there with awesome avionics. The schedule is also a little better...and they overall seem to treat their guys better than AMF with nicer, mariott like hotels and a guarenteed car for the layover...They also tend to have more lifers than AMF, which definitely says something. I'd have to either have a few DUI's or be not right in the head to be an AMF lifer who was nothing more than a line pilot....It was a good time builder for me and overall a much, much better company to work for than it used to be, but I'm glad to not be there anymore.
 
A150K said:
The better pay part is no longer accurate (though it was for a long, long time) for Empire. Starting pay at the two is around the same and the pay scale still tops out higher at Empire if you were to look at comparable equipment to the Caravan (PA31 and 99). But....If you were to look at what the pay scales do within the first 3 years or so, AMF actually edges out now...Plus they offer quite a few bonus opportunities to people looking to stick around for a couple years. Not sure what if any bonuses are available at Empire, but from what I gather from a friend of mine who recently left there, there really aren't any. Now as far as aircraft and qol goes....Empire still wins. Minus the fact that they only have 1 engine, the FedEx Caravan's are still some of the nicest 135 freight haulers out there with awesome avionics. The schedule is also a little better...and they overall seem to treat their guys better than AMF with nicer, mariott like hotels and a guarenteed car for the layover...They also tend to have more lifers than AMF, which definitely says something. I'd have to either have a few DUI's or be not right in the head to be an AMF lifer who was nothing more than a line pilot....It was a good time builder for me and overall a much, much better company to work for than it used to be, but I'm glad to not be there anymore.
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I'm a lifer at my Fedex feeder 208 job, atleast I think so now. Either this or work on starting that flight school I dream about. I enjoy the schedule, 7-8 AM flight, land. Workout, nap, eat. 5-6PM flight, land and go home. Like I said, I love the job but I feel like i'm missing something. It's not as satisfying as teaching was, that's for sure. I hate feeling frustrated making a decision, it seems like whatever choice I make, I feel I made the wring choice.
 
Galaitoto said:
I'm a lifer at my Fedex feeder 208 job, atleast I think so now. Either this or work on starting that flight school I dream about. I enjoy the schedule, 7-8 AM flight, land. Workout, nap, eat. 5-6PM flight, land and go home. Like I said, I love the job but I feel like i'm missing something. It's not as satisfying as teaching was, that's for sure. I hate feeling frustrated making a decision, it seems like whatever choice I make, I feel I made the wring choice.
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I know a few lifer FedEx feeder guys. They're not too uncommon. I personally hate most feeder freight schedules because of the early show time and split up day, but for those who don't mind that aspect of it, it can be pretty good. Home every night etc.
 
Yeah different strokes, I like the split because it's my time to focus on getting back into shape. Someday within the next 5 years I'm going to have a kid. I would very much like to be present to take him to baseball games, and even coach. Although, getting home at 7:15PM puts a damper on that, might not even be possible. That's what is bothering me. I think about the airlines sometimes, but I don't want to go there really. It's hit or miss with those schedules, Id either be happy or miserable, that's the gamble. For now, I'll just enjoy the moment and see what happens and make a decision then.
 
Good on you, but I would go crazy if the biggest/best I could ever look forward to flying was a Caravan. Diff'rent strokes and all, but I didn't go into this to fly an overgrown 172 forever.
 
Galaitoto said:
I'm a lifer at my Fedex feeder 208 job, atleast I think so now. Either this or work on starting that flight school I dream about. I enjoy the schedule, 7-8 AM flight, land. Workout, nap, eat. 5-6PM flight, land and go home. Like I said, I love the job but I feel like i'm missing something. It's not as satisfying as teaching was, that's for sure. I hate feeling frustrated making a decision, it seems like whatever choice I make, I feel I made the wring choice.
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Wow
Just wow
Only if this was at a regional 121 flying with multi crew in a nice shiny jet.
 
Roger Roger said:
Good on you, but I would go crazy if the biggest/best I could ever look forward to flying was a Caravan. Diff'rent strokes and all, but I didn't go into this to fly an overgrown 172 forever.
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Thanks, you too.
daydreamer said:
Wow
Just wow
Only if this was at a regional 121 flying with multi crew in a nice shiny jet.
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I've tried to get the SJS bug, but I just can't get it. I love that caravan, it's like a slow flying tank. It's not a job for everyone, or even most people, but I sure did find my niche in the many pockets of aviation. Fedex also just implemented a raise to all the feeder operators to make sure their employees are happy and stay with their companies. If anyone wants more info, shoot me a PM anytime.
 
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