You need to do more research on the industry. But thanks for the laugh anyways.

Why do you think I'm on here? Thanks for the great info! :D

Yea, I was being a smart a$$. :D

If Southwest is your target airline find some Southwest pilots and talk to them in person. See if they can give you more realistic expectations on what it takes to be competitive at their ailrline. You might even build some contacts while doing it. Remember what is posted on the qualifications page of any airline is the absolute minimum qualification, to be truly competetive usually requires quite a bit more. Also having an internal recomendation anywhere obviously will be a huge help.

If you are getting information from a recruiting agency, flight school or employer who is getting you to work cheaply that information should be highly suspect. There is no pilot shortage, only a shortage of pilots willing to work cheaply. Get your primary information from people who are actually flying for the company that you want to work for.

Most importantly, assume you may be at any job you take much longer than you plan. Sometimes things move quickly and your lucky, but most of the time they move slowly and Murphy is around the corner. Make sure you can live on what you make and that you are willing to stay there for awhile longer than you plan.

Also if you have a family make sure they are ready for the ride as well.

Thanks for the info. I will definitely be asking some SW pilots what they think. I just thought that it was a little suspect how management talked about their really close relationship with southwest. I do still like amflight so far seems like a great company.

Once you meet the hiring minimums you can go what ever route you want, its all about who and what you know! many of us former amflighters have gone on to legacies, lcc's, the big freight dogs ie; ups, fedex, and the fractionals. good luck!

Just curious how far above the minimums you had to fly before getting picked up at the place you wanted to go to.

I know its possible but not from the BE99 to the 737... My buddy is at Southwest and is a former AMF'er. He flew the BE99 for 2yrs 1900 for 2yrs and the Metro for 1yr before he went on to "heavy metal". thats 3yrs of flying in an airplane over 12,500lbs.
The main thing that helped him out was, he was willing to and did move where ever there was an opening for a bigger aircraft, such as an out station in podunk Oregon or Texas.

Talking to some SWA pilots while jumpseating or traveling for company business quite a few have flown for Ameriflight at some point in their careers. I have only heard of a handful of pilots going directly from AMF to SWA, but doesn't mean that it can't happen. Quite a few have gone to the regionals, LLCs, or fractionals before going to SWA. AMF definitely allows you the opportunity to get the time you need to be able to apply pretty much anywhere.

I got hired with one more hour more than the minimums. I knew where the next airline was I wanted to go when I got hired at amflight. I knew amflight wasnt gonna be my last stop just the beginning. so I used amflight as the stepping stone and time builder. I grew and built the necessary relationships to get to where I am now. It does work, you can't let the nay sayers drag you down!

Atp?
 

Sorry if this has been covered before, but say you get hired into the PA31 with ATP mins...can they give you the ATP ride in concurrence with the .293 initial checks, etc etc.

Thanks

No, most of our Check Airman are not authorized to conduct initial type rides or issue ATP certificates. Plus, PA31, not a chance. You need to have two or three rides with the company, or get hired directly into a "typed" aircraft, before they will give you an ATP ride. It protects the company from someone using AMF to get their ATP and then bailing.

QOL Oakland vs Portland
 

Oakland vs Portland, which is better as far as QOL, Rent etc..... Do employees of AMF have a place to park their car at the airport?:)

From a strictly financial standpoint, Portland is better because California is MUCH too expensive. In addition to that, when based in PDX, you can live in WA and not pay any state income tax (save even more).

Just my opinion. I was never OAK based!

You obviously have to be a WA citizen to not claim income taxes right? Do you know what it takes to become a citizen of that state? Just curious.

I think as long as you have a permanent mailing address somewhere in WA you will be fine. My wife and I still have to get our WA driver licenses and we've been living in WA for a while now. I had no issues on my taxes with WA.

Alright, I think the whole state vs federal income tax thing is a little shady but here goes.

If you live in WA, AMF will only take out Federal and WA state income taxes and since WA is income tax free, they only take out the federal stuff.

As for the legality, since AMF has bases all over the country, we can use this little lapse in communication between states to our advantage.

WA State Taxes:
Since AMF does fly in WA, when the WA state income tax people look at your taxes, they only see you as a WA resident who is working for a company that does in fact fly in WA therefore, WA believes you are 100% WA and nothing else (tax free = :)

OR State Taxes:
Since you technically are based in OR, OR is your "Tax Home" state therefore you should be paying OR income taxes because more than 50% of you income is being made in OR (because of your base of operations being in OR). Now, as long as you don't report anything to the state of OR, there is no way for them to find out that your base of operations is in OR short of calling AMF in Burbank and asking them which base you are part of. Since they have no reason to suspect that you are flying in OR (because neither federal or WA will tell them otherwise), they will never find out about you actually being based in OR. This is how the WA living pilots at PDX get away with not paying OR state income tax (to my knowledge).

Unique Tax Issues Faced by Pilots and Other Interstate Transportation Employees | Colorado Tax Attorney: Denver Tax Lawyer

Here's an article where a pilot for Southwest got nailed for tax fraud. Now, his situation is similar to the situation concerning AMF PDX pilots living in WA however, this guy got caught evading his taxes because he tried to claim commuting to work as tax exempt (which it is not 1. because it is his primary job and 2. he didn't pay for the flight tickets he claimed lol). Because of this fraud, the powers that be looked into his taxes further and dug up the situation we are sorta talking about.

Again, the only reason the states found out about his out of state stuff was because of his tax fraud concerning his commute.

Enjoy

How many Navajos/Chieftains are based in PDX/OAK? How many pilots?

I believe there's around 30 pilots, 1 navajo, and a good number of Chieftains in PDX. Say around 13-15 at least. Not sure about OAK.

Is there anyone in the interview process right now?

Yeah I just completed a phone interview and am scheduled for next week in BUR. I know 2 others that just finished theirs in OAK this week. Did You submit everything?

All furloughs have been recalled, and interviewing has resumed for future Basic Indoc classes.

Further to Freightdog's comment, two of Ameriflight's check captains are ATP Designated Pilot Examiners and the company has access to a third. BE-99 captains with good records may be offered an ATP checkride in conjunction with a 6-month 135.293-297-299 ride, and captains transitioning to type-rated equipment will fly with ATP-type rating examiners.

Surface wx in the SFO-OAK bay area is often nicer but rent is expensive. Winter wx at PDX can be pretty awful but COL is less and a lot of people like the area.

You'll get plenty of priceless wx flying experience in either place -- maybe more in PDX.

Employee parking is provided at both the OAK and PDX hangars.

Ameriflight doesn't claim to have a magic key to the hiring door at SWA -- and particularly after flying a BE-99 for only a year -- although a number of SWA pilots are former Ameriflighters. Ditto numerous other major and regional airlines in the US and internationally. Some pilots have gone to corporate operators. Some have gotten out of the aviation business. We also have a surprising number of "lifers" -- pilots who have been with us for 20 or 25 years. A few have retired out of the company.

At the bottom line, it depends on what you want and how willing you are to pursue your goal.

XxXxxxxxxxxx

Congrats! Times? And do you know what base?

Just throwing in a useless post to make this thread reach 100 pages.

Aww, maybe one more.

the question is who is gonna get the 1st post on the 100th page

ME!!! Its all mine...mine...mine!!

I am a rich and happy miser!!!!

i wonder how much of the thread is about ameriflight or related part 135 operations....

More than you are probably thinking.

Are you still in with AMF Sanders?

Hey Guys,

I've got a phone interview coming up and was wondering what to expect. Any technical questions or is it pretty much all HR stuff?

Also, which base would you recommend interviewing at...if it matters at all?

And, according to the email I just got, it says that the typical schedule is M-F, outstation for 6-7 hours and back in base every night in your own bed? I thought you guys spend the nights in the outstations and are back in base on the weekends only?

Thanks!

The beauty of AMF... in my humble opinion

Thanks for that.

Anybody else?

The phone interview is mainly HR stuff, nothing to be worried about just be yourself. You are scheduled home every night and you will be for the most part. You will fly first thing in the morning and then fly back in the evening for most runs.

Good luck to you!

Thanks for the response...

What do most guys do during the day at the outstation. Is there a company provided crew house, crew car, etc? Or are you chained to the FBO? Is it possible to be productive during the down time (go to a gym, run errands, etc?)

You can be productive, you will have some sort of transportation and a place to stay. They set you up pretty good, the time is yours, some guys golf, workout, or just sleep.

Depends. Sometimes, especially at the bottom of seniority, you won't have a regularly scheduled run. If your outstation based, then you are on the same run everyday. I was going to take some classes at a community college, but missed the sign up date.