Having flown at least a couple hundred hours with several FOs in the PA31, I'd like to offer a few comments on the AMF side of the EJI program.

First, all the FOs I flew with were from overseas- they were building time prior to going back home and finishing up their certs, so there was no question of them replacing a paid position. Besides, we fly the PA31, BE99, SA227, and BE1900 single pilot, so there's never an issue of them taking the place of a paid crewmember.

Second, all the ones I have flown with were very professional, quite willing to help, well-prepared, and most importantly, made my job safer. Most of the time they chose to fly on the longest runs, the ones that go into the smallest airports with the crappiest approaches and are the most fatiguing.


I value having a second crewmember and actually using two-crew procedures, not just for the safety factor but because my next job WILL be a two-crew environment, and I want to have some experience before moving into that. I find that on any flight, if I have someone in the right seat, or if I'm riding with another pilot and acting as PNF, I fly better and think more about factors like weather, fuel, diverting, etc. That's counterintuitive, but I've found that having someone else who is part of the decision-making process helps me do a better job of making decisions.

I can't say if time-splitting or an FO program would be better, but I know that most renters don't get the experience that our FOs do- renters tend to fly in mild conditions, as time allows. We have real schedules to keep, customers to satisfy, ops specs to comply with, and we fly in almost any weather. Without considering cost, I would argue that the experience our FOs gain is more valuable than sharing a Seminole. I can't say if it's more marketable in terms of applying for a job, but I think you would learn more.

I'm not sure you would learn more by instructing- you DO learn a lot as a CFI or MEI, but it's not the same things. Instructing focuses heavily on the basics in an academic environment, and only some of that translates over. Instructing through dozens of ILS approaches from the right seat teaches something very different from making decisions when you have cargo on board, dwindling fuel reserves, and you've had to go missed on your first ILS approach.