Yep, here's a link to it: Home Based Captain Cargo Pilot - Careers At Ameriflight, LLC

Hi, there!

1. It's relatively easy to get PDX. If you look at our careers site, you'll see what's currently open for PDX. Those positions have already been looked over by our current pilots, so it's up for grabs on a first come first serve basis.
2. If you are at 1,200TT, you'll be placed in the BE99 as a Captain. (Of course, this is only as long as your ME, XC, Night, PIC, and Instrument are at our 99 Captain mins, as well.)
3. Your interview is only good for six months, so sometime within that time frame. But I'd say if you are shooting for September, apply at the end of July or the beginning of August.

Also, here's the full list of time mins for our BE99 Captain positions: 1,200 TT, 150 ME, 500 XC (defined as point to point), 100 night, 500 PIC, 75 instrument
Not all of those numbers are hard, so if you can compensate for a spot you are low on, you'll still be able to get a spot.

Hope that helps!

Except for the E120 that requires a first officer, the only reason we hire into the right seat is to give a pilot a way to reach part 135 required times for IFR captain. So if you are at or just past 135 numbers (1200TT, 500 CC, 100 night, 75 instrument) you will go straight to the left seat of a BE99. Don't worry about not having flown 135 before. We work with you during training to get you up to speed on 135 requirements. And we have all sorts of folks available (training captains, chief pilots, etc) available 24/7 to answer any questions and keep you safe and on track.

What would the projected career path be for someone with 135 IFR mins, but only 15 ME time?

Thank you for your quick response! The only hours I might be short on would be the night hours, but I'll be trying my best to get them in before the end of summer. I'm currently at 65 but don't do much night flying at my job. That's good to know those hours aren't strict though!

Great, thank you! I just know it'd be a big change from my current job but that's reassuring.

Compared to many 135 jobs where the Pilot is alone, doing all the planning, AMF is more if a hybrid with some 121 like policies and procedures.
Dispatch does most of the flight planning, with the pilot using a "canned" flight plan or one dispatch files one off for non-regular flights.
Sure, you do need to know your stuff, but the company is big enough that there is almost always somebody around to ask when a situation occurs that you are not sure of...
A very different situation than when I jumped started dabbling in 135 in 1997, and my first full time 135 job in 1999, when it was a "sink or swim" situation.
Yes, the training period is a bit longer than the normal 135 jobs at AMERIFLIGHT, but it is largely to ensure you are safe and confident when you are suddenly alone in a turbo-prop, at night, possibly in ice.
Yes, the lifestyle of 135 is a bit different than airline jobs, but I enjoy the time off, including most weekends. I also enjoy not having to eat most of my meals in a airport fast food restaurant while random people stare at you in uniform....
Yes, many folks on these forums want that lifestyle, but IMO CARGO can provide a very good quality of life that many people just don't consider.
Good luck with you choice...I always thought I would fly passangers but then stumbled into 135 cargo and 91k and can say I am happy.

The TT, CC, Night and Instrument are hard figures for IFR captains as those are specified by the FARs. But we can work with that with our First Officer program. Talk with our recruiters about where you are.

I have been leaning towards cargo ever since I started flying. Also, Ameriflight awarded me a scholarship during college so they have been my number one choice for a few years. I think the schedule would suit me better as well. Definitely looking forward to applying later this year! Thanks for the info.

Good to know! Thank you. I'll definitely be working on squeezing in those night hours when I can. I'm currently doing aerial survey and my contract will be up some time in the summer so I will definitely contact recruiters closer to that point, unless you advise it's better to do it sooner.

Good post, Zippynh. This job can be 70 hours a week or 25, depending on your perspective.

If you only enjoy your hard time off, and just "kill time" on your layovers, you will likely hate this job.

Then again, if that is the case, why are you even a pilot in the first place? Get out and enjoy the places you visit, it's one of the perks of our career.

OwnNav,

curious about the downtime question. I'm sure it's highly dependent on specific location, etc, but how much down time is there during the day? Is there typically a 3-4 hour period where a person could do some on-line work?

Very route dependent....have gone on trips with lots of flying, where it was "go, go, go" and some where you have lots of time to spend doing other things. One thing to keep in mind is that you must always rest enough to be safe, and flying mostly single pilot, you don't have anybody to watch you for mistakes, and the paperwork, etc.
First and foremost, remember it is a full time job if you are on the schedule. Yes, home based Captains do get full weeks off at home, when not "on".
My suggestion, find a way to live within your income so you are not spreading yourself too thin, especially when you start. After a few months or a year, maybe you could do some side gigs...but trying to do too much can lead to errors and fatigue. Many freight pilots have lost friends, myself included, that have known people who have tried to do "extra" and made dumb mistakes.... mistakes might result in a "resume writing event" or worse, loss of life.

Can anyone reply as to where home based captains are being sent?

Also, will it typically vary for each trip, or do they generally wind up going to the same bases?

I am currently in A&P school and will be graduating in June. Is it too early to apply now, or should I wait a few months?

I am just below 3600 hours, 1400 of that in helicopters, and just over 500 multi-engine FW. I was hoping to get a seat in the B1900 or Metro.

Thanks for any info!

Home based captains go anywhere a captain is needed...
Be it for turnover, vacation, or a position that has not been filled with a bid...but talking to others, there is a bit of a regular routine in some cases.
Similarly, where you get sent seems to be more of "luck of the draw" and based on the cost of an airline ticket, and schedule. I live on the east coast, but this trip I am on the West coast.
I would suggest that you chat with a recruiter, but when I applied, it went from paperwork to job offer in just a few hours. I am not sure how far in the future they schedule people for class, but sure they will know (maybe even chime in here).

Here are our lowest IFR mins: 1,200 TT, 50 ME, 500 XC (defined as point to point), 100 night, 500 PIC, 75 instrument
That's for a Chieftain Captain IFR position. Obviously, the ME for it is still a little high. The 50 ME is not a hard requirement and you'll get a few hours in training. However, 25 is the absolute lowest we can take, so I think you'll have to get more ME first.

Hope that helps!

Hi, there!

Home-Based Captains are sent anywhere we need them throughout our system. That being said, we try to keep them close to where they live (as the plane ticket will likely be more cost-effective that way).

If you feel you'd be available for a July class, you'd probably wait to interview until May. However, you can still apply and get in our system to get the process started.

Definitely apply for a BE1900 or Metro. With the hours you listed, so far you'd be qualified for one of those.

Hope that helps!

Thanks all!

Any chance Ameriflight will be at the NW Aviation Conference in Puyallup, WA next week?

A lot of our schedules are UPS, meaning leave in the morning, all day layover, return to base at night.

ZippyNH brings up some valid points. Be flexible for weather/customer/mechanical delays, and get your rest. But yeah, the time is yours. We have had pilots do online courses on layovers, bring in extra income etc. But again, you need to show up to work rested and ready to go.

What are you even talking about?
Every 135 freight company goes point A-B every day, over and over again, how would you possible not have a “canned” route?!

There were canned routes when I was there, maybe that went away. Not sure what he is really talking about. The most alone you can be in this industry is flying single pilot 135 freight.

If you have ever flown unscheduled 135 aka charter where you have to file your own stuff, often in small company's without 24/7 dispatch, you would know Hate too feed a troll, cause you always seem to jump in as the know it all, pretending to know it all with only a superficial understanding of many things...
Not everything in every company is the same, and there are many different ways things are done totally LEGALLY from place to place.

I do know.

Settle down junior I probably have more 135 time than you have total time judging from the overly general comments you leave in this thread.

Good question. They have been there previous years but I am not seeing them on the schedule for this years event.

Hi, there!

Unfortunately, we won't be.
We've gone the past few years and a had a great time, but I guess it just slipped under our radar this year!
I'm sorry about that. I'd be happy to hook you up with a recruiter if you'd like to ask some questions, though!

I wouldn't call it "pretending", but often dated or second hand. He flew out of one of the worst bases ever (now closed), and for an annual pay as a training captain that's less than I make in bonuses alone.

One thing I will point out, Zippynh brings up 24 hour dispatch. Years ago AMF only required a check in, not the full release discussion required now.

Used to be you could put just about anyone in dispatch, it was more of an operations position, and under part 135 that was ok. Heck, I worked for another 135 op where we asked for a weather printout, and the "dispatcher" printed out a 7 day forcast from the local news.

Now days I see dispatchers getting a few weeks of mentoring, and they are much more familiar with situations that ground a flight. They are required to go over weather/notams, and review your fuel staus.

Thanks!
PM sent!

Emb120
 

when will the Clases start of EMB 120?

am just waiting that Kacie Call me again, but i would like to start reading about also i dont know if AMF will sent me to ACP due to my TT827.

Hey I'm hoping to apply to ameriflight as my first flying job and i wanted to ask somebody who actually works there some questions about it if I could pm someone.
Thanks in advance

What aircraft are in the DFW base? Id be looking for the EMB-120 if possible.

Metroliner Bonus Program Flyer
 

It looks like the Flyer for the Metroliner Bonus Program was taken down? Is this still a thing?

https://images.google.com/imgres?img...ce=sh%2Fx%2Fim


Also, I'm interested in the Home Based Captain and was wondering how they work the Salary for that. Is it the same as what's posted on APC or is it different because you are flying half as much.

Curious too what I'd likely be placed in with these times.


Total time:
6454
Inst:
378(272 act)
X-Country:
4009
PIC:
6190
Night:
374
Turbine:
570
ASEL:
3780
ASES:
2679
AMEL:
34
Alaska:
2000
135:
5000
Amphib:
236



Most of the 135 is VFR ASES, but I did fly IFR 135 freight years ago for Flight Express. About half the turbine time is TPE-331 the other half is PT6, all DHC3 floats.

I'd love to fly the metroliner as a home based captain but i figure the AMEL time might limit that.

Thanks in advance. :cool:

We have BE99, BE1900 and SA227 based in DFW. Unfortunately we haven't had E120 aircraft based in DFW for about 5 years.

Are you looking for a captain or FO spot?

Yeah, that's pretty low ME time to go straight to the metro. However, you could come in as a home based BE99 and then transition to the metro after you log a couple hundred hours of ME time.

Hi, there!

Yes, the $20,000 Metro bonus is still a thing. It also applies for BE1900 Captains, as well.

The salary is the same for Home-Based Captains. For Metro Captains, first year salary is $57,000 (does not include bonuses, per diem, etc.)

If your Multi-Engine is at 34 hours, you unfortunately wouldn't come in as a Metro. With your other hours being so high, we could likely get you that Home-Based position as a 99 and transition you to the Metro when you get 200 more hours of Multi.

Hope that helps!

Unless your plan is just to come here to get to 1500 as an FO to go to the regionals, you would be better off going the ACP route. In the E120 we try to keep the FOs in the plane for about a year. Which is why we look for pilots at around the 600 hour range. At a little over 800, you would be better as an ACP FO, building time in the BE99 until you get over 1000. Then you could become a restricted captain, still in the 99 and transition to unrestricted at 1200.

Hi, there!

We are taking EMB120 First Officers in our April class - we have openings on our careers site now.
If you are at 827 TT, you'll likely be up for our ACP positions. That will get you to Captain quicker, as well. It comes with a training contract.

Hope that helps!

Thanks Freightdogs!

Ok couple more questions then. About how long do you think the upgrade to the 1900\metro would be and if you upgrade within the first year (if that's even a possibility), which bonus structure would apply at the 12\18 month point.

Edit: Also, what is the minimum ME time I would need (considering my other experience) to be direct hire for the Metro\1900.

Again, thanks for the time.

Are there currently training contracts for new hires at AMF? I heard from a recruiter that there were no contracts (outside of the time builder positions for pilots with 500-800 hrs.) but I've also heard that the new pilot employee guide that came out this winter includes some wording about "training commitments" for all pilots. That sounds like a financial obligation to me, aka- training contracts. Was the recruiter incorrect or did something change in the last few months?

If you were to come in as a BE99 Captain at the hours you have currently, it would take 4-6 months for you to transition to the BE1900 or Metro. (That's the amount of time it would take for you to gain the multi needed and get into a 1900/Metro class.)
If you came in as a BE99 Captain, you would not be eligible for the 1900/Metro bonuses. You would still get the 20% Turbine bonuses for the 1900/Metro and all other applicable bonuses (like Peak to Peak).

You would be considered for a Direct-Entry 1900 or Metro Captain position with as little as 150ME.

Hope that helps!

I'll try to clear this up! :)

We have training contracts for one position. The Accelerated Captain Program First Officers (ACP FOs).
The reason we have training contracts for them is because we don't actually need that position (FOs in our BE99s). We are helping those pilots out by giving them a position where they can earn hours quicker, so we have a training contract that requires them to fly with us for a certain amount of flight hours. If they leave early, they have to pay back money depending on how many hours they haven't accumulated with us.

Hope that makes sense!