That whole "TODAY" thing is what's making me itch to chime in....yes, that is the CURRENT state of hiring at some places, but what will it be tomorrow, next week, next month, or by the time anyone gets the qualifications attractive enough to get the attention of HR??

I understand you had a crappy experience, and it's good to let people know so they can be informed. But, it's a personal thing I think...as for the MIA Base, it was heaven to me! Not to mention it was a job paying a livable wage as well! I have worked some very crappy jobs and I don't think I'll ever be completely happy unless I adjust my attitude and expectations. We always will have a complaint. Give me a livable wage, nice reserve time, weekends off, good maintenance, a reputable name to work for, great IFR experience, awesome group of pilots and I'm sold on the place. AMF was waaaay better than anywhere I've worked and I value the experience of flying there as well as meeting the people I worked with. You actually do get a little notoriety having flown these planes single pilot and having dealt with so many situations and weather that come up in 135 freight when you show someone your resume anywhere (and believe me, I have applied at a crap load of places so I've seen people's reaction).

As for those going to the regionals afterwards, I think it's a necessary step to make it to the big airlines and having the PIC time which MAY be a requirement again will have set that pilot up for success. My case was I had mostly PIC and AMF gave me Turbine PIC, I wasn't able to get too far without jet and 121 time; and that's what precipitated my move and that of the other guys....we're checking those boxes. Think of the pilots who have been at regionals for a while and don't have the PIC time yet...there was a time when they were praying for a chance to do so at a regional, some still are, for years. Luckily things have changed for the moment and they are getting somewhere without it; but who knows what the future holds??

At my base we had a regional pilot with way more time than most of us started with and zilch PIC, he came to AMF for that alone and guess what happened when he had the PIC + total + jet/121 (4 years) from the regionals he was at before? He moved on with a much better resume...set himself up for success and is reaping the benefits.

The whole glass time thing is something that weighs on my mind, I admit. But, who the F can't fly that??? FMS?...if you don't know how to learn computers by now then you might as well quit while you're young. I think it's more important to get quality flight time and experience that attracts attention while you can. It's all about meeting requirements that WILL change as often as companies want them to. Do you want to be sweating, praying and hoping you are okay without having checked in one box? I don't, and I think most (if not all) guys at AMF are there for that sole reason.

Being forthcoming with only the bad at a company doesn't give the whole story and it's very biased. If I listened to everyone that bad mouthed a company or a person, I wouldn't have gained the experience that today makes me proud to show my resume, not shyly hand it over and hope they like my personality, or that my connection is better than the other guy's. That metro time has been good to me in my search, and I have AMF to thank for that.

And to finish, freight 135 life isn't that bad if it's right for your life. The captain that trained me had a run he loved, 3 days off a week, making decent money was happy with the place and he didn't want to go anywhere any time soon...it's all about perspective; as with anything in life.

Be prepared, because hope and timing won't get you all the way there!