1. going from a regional to part 135 single pilot cargo operation isn’t as easy as he may think.
2. Never say you would be in for the long haul if you have never worked at said operator. Sure, say it in an interview in a much more professional way, but to proclaim it when facing a furlough or complete job loss is short sighted.
3. Ameriflight is a job for the young time builders, not for the middle aged regional captain. I did it for 3 years over a decade ago. Got a lot of great experience from it, but I’m not gonna go back to it ever again.

Same, that’s by far the most difficult flying I’ve done.

Some very good points.
The fact that the VAST MAJORITY of the cargo at AMF is now "no touch" makes it easier for an older pilot to do feeder cargo. Not saying it's much easier than it was 20 years ago, but not having to push you own cargo to the door at outstations for a driver is a big help.
Yes, it's a different kind of flying, oddly rewarding for some, with lots of hand flying, down in the weather. Intense at times, typically with older, less well equipped equipment.
Honestly it's the type of job that suits some people well...but is a nightmare for others. Much more of a blue-collar type of flying job, and if it's in a location you want to be in, it can honestly be a good job (perhaps a spouse who loves their job and you hate commuting, or like small town rural life on an "outbased" route).
Will you ever make HUGE money? No, but for many people finding the right mix of QOL, location, money and time is more important.
Would I suggest a typical RJ pilot move a family half way across the country for a job like this? Not likely unless they really disliked the regional lifestyle, and REALLY want something totally different.
Yes, you will get you shirt dirty, get soaked in the rain, freeze you butt off in winter, work some odd hours, often on minimum rest. What you get is typically a schedule you know months in advance, and typically all day or all night at home with the weekends off...not having to deal with terminals, etc is a plus IMHO.
​​​​​​EVERY job has BS, it's just a matter of finding the flavor of BS that you can tolerate.
Honestly, after years of corporate flying, I ended up going back to cargo for the stability. Cargo tends to change much more slowly than passangers when the eccnomy goes up or down....
​​​

Honestly, that’s pretty awesome!
Cargo is definitely a more stable job, but I would aim a little higher than AMF. Runs get cut and changed all the time on the part 135 side and commuting at AMF is almost impossible. To each his own though. Being home every night is awesome and I’ve pretty much been able to do that my entire career (minus the night cargo I did, but I was home during the day).

How so?
 

What made the flying so difficult? The equipment? I've heard Ameriflight's birds are old with old avionics.

Avionics? Radios? The pipers use smoke signals from the engines. HSIs? Some planes didn’t have a heading bug. After decades the planes didn’t exactly demonstrate positive flight characteristics. You are single pilot in all the weather of the local area 5 days a week on terrible sleep. This will be the most challenging flying most will ever do who do it.

+1 Your seat is sopping wet and so is your ass for your whole “day” If it rained.

All things change with time...cargo has changed lots in the last 10-20 years....
As is typical in cargo, if you have "shiney jet syndrome" you need not apply...you won't be flying new stuff, and rarely will you have a plane with a "pretty" paint job...but work is steady, and we were and are still doing limited hiring, no furloughs as of yet...we still have pilots flowing up to companies like UPS, Omni, etc....
All of the Piper's are in the boneyard....never flown a be-99, so I can't vouch for the door seals on the crew doors, but haven't heard of anyone complaining about wet seats....
Most of the fleet, guessing 65-75% are gps equipped, all received ADS-b upgrades as required.....
Yes... cargo can be a bit of a lifestyle, and some enjoy the free time, others like the time building routes that often are minimum rest....
Challenging weather into some second rate airports where you might be the one of the biggest planes to land all day? Perhaps.
Weather.... depends...Miami FL, Lansing MI, Burbank/Ontario CA, Salt lake City Utah, Portland OR, or Puerto Rico (lots more, but you get the idea) all have their different challenges.....but isn't that true of any nationwide/global company?! Most newbies are in ONE base for several months, helping them learn, so the weather if you are confident isn't as bad as it sounds.
Seriously, some people, me for one, enjoy the flying, but honestly part of that is the intensity of single pilot IFR with a 6 pack with lots of hand flying.
Honestly not for everyone, but weekends off, and working around sunrise AM half a day off and the the evening PM with a typical night off, with one of the periods at home isn't bad for a full time job....some runs fly 100 hrs a month....some barely 30, just depends on what you bid for assignment.

Miami Base?
 

Whats the status of the Miami base for pilots? I saw an A&P job listing for Miami so I was curious

We are currently staffed in MIA. But that could change as the base hopefully grows. Keep an eye on the job boards. If openings become available...

Ever fly a Metro with deferred nose wheel steering? Not only are they old, but a lot of the parts aren't made any more, so you keep getting refurbs (which often don't work any better than the part they replaced). All part of the adventure, right?

Even worse, ever fly a Metro with a deferred nosewheel steering and then been stupid enough to try to use it? 🤪😲

The metro has 17 memory items. The 767 has one third the memory items. Metro was created by idiots to be flown by geniuses

We called it "Zoolander" when it was only able to turn one direction. Oh the memories.

Now that is awesome!

No, it was never created to be a single pilot freight hauler. The flying at AMF is challenging because they take complicated airplanes, and make you fly them by yourself. Having trained FO's is a nice addition but the responsibility still lies on the CA, AMF doesn't truly hold the FO to second in command standards like an airline does. Not to mention that the planes are beyond old...

Hahahah this is great.

I ain’t no genius!

but I did stay at a holiday in express during my Ameriflight stint.

Not to mention the metro was designed and first built over 10 years before the 767 and has no where NEAR the automation.

Can’t forget the “Texas Tampon” name either.

Hand flying an old airplane, alone, through weather, with no gps going to an airport in the mountains with a DME arc to VOR approach and limited ATC radar coverage.....what could go wrong! Haha. Don’t get me wrong I didn’t say it was bad, just challenging.

All of their aircraft have GPS now these days, right?

No clue.......

Lawn dart.:D

Almost. Some of the metros don't. The 99s and E120s all do. I think all of the 1900s do but some are not approach capable. Only enroute.

Is that an upgrade from the previous lodging accommodations?

Many of the 1900s do not, and some are not approach capable. If you can't find an airport without a moving map you won't make it through training regardless.

I completely agree that potential pilots coming here should be fully capable of /A navigation and very proficient. But honestly GPS has evolved now to a place where while I am capable of navigating /A, a WAAS enabled GPS just gives a massive safety margin I personally would prefer. And as we move towards NextGen there are already some airports /A aircraft can’t go into because waypoints on procedures are RNAV instead of VOR/ADF.

"If you can't find an airport without a moving map you won't make it through training regardless."

you could be getting yelled at by the terminator for missing one single callout in the sim! such fun!

honestly, Ameriflight is the only place I’ve worked where I actually had a layover hotel. All my other jobs only required hotels during training and TDY. I guess I’ve been fortunate if being home every night is the goal. I mostly stayed at Best Westerns or Red Lions while at AMF. Quality varies greatly by location.This was circa 2010-2012

Hello, can someone help me with contact information for recruiter?

Thank You!

[email protected]

Thats the generic inbox; a previous post a few pages back had it listed up there.

Have you oh I don’t know, tried looking at their website?!?!

In the old days, I would call you Captain Obvious. But not any more. I have seen some pretty dumb questions.

Standing at a gate, with the large number Gate C7 posted on the wall. Asked where they can get to Gate C7. You are here. At Gate C7. Yes, I know, But I need to know how do I get to the Gate C7, my plane leaves in a half hour.

Bases/Airframes
 

Can anyone direct me toward the information about which aircraft are based where? The website and APC lists domiciles, but not aircraft associated with them.

That level of detail isn't posted anywhere for the public. PM me and we can discuss.

Part of that is because they can change. Are you interested in a particular base?

Got it, thanks! Tried to PM you, but it said they were turned off. Would love to talk to you more though!

Not interested in a particular base. Trying to do some medium/long term planning though. Sent you a PM!

Are they currently hiring FO's?

Nothing posted internally, the talent shortage will probably have to ramp up a bit first. Never hurts to get hold of recruiting.