I implied nothing as such, and by you putting that out there, you're entering a very dangerous path. As a person in management of a company, you need to be cautious in what you post. I simply was saying that she hadn't flown, and as such, Atlas may not be a great place for a career oriented pilot who wants to go to a major. You're better off at a regional flying a ton. You can make just as much at a regional as you would at Atlas anyway.

Don't get me wrong Ted, I don't think AMF is a bad place to go. But it's a place you need to go and get your time ASAP and GTFO. It's not a career place, as much as you've convinced yourself it is.

 

If that was not your intent, then I apologize. Since this ISN'T an Atlas thread, that was the only reason I could think of that you would make such a comment when the question was on whether AMF time would help you get hired there.

I readily admit that AMF is not a career place for most people. And when people come here and fulfill the commitment they made in terms of time promised for the cost of the training we provide to gain the flight time, I am more than happy to help people move on to wherever they want to go. Be it a regional, corporate, air ambulance or larger iron. What I don't care for is people who come here at 1200 hours and leave after just a couple of months because now they are competitive as a first officer someplace.

For me, it has worked well as a career place. I hadn't intended it to be but circumstances at the time worked different than I had planned.

 

You, I and everyone knows that the "training contract" that AMF has isn't worth the paper it's written on. If AMF paid a reasonable wage, they wouldn't have that kind of turnover.

 

So I'm supposed to find out tomorrow or Friday if I'm selected for AMF. I'm hoping for the Lansing hub but I'm expecting to get stuck on reserve.

Does anybody have any experience with that system? Will there be weeks where I'm not sent anywhere or will I always wind up SOMEwhere each week?

 

Unless you are on a Home Based schedule, which has a set number of days on and off, you will be doing something every week. Either on a run from your base or TDY. It is possible you MIGHT be put on reserve as we get the numbers up, but you won't just be off without requesting vacation time.

 

Here ya go. Joined AMF as a 1500 TT, 74ME hour pilot with 135 VFR experience. Wanted MTPIC time. I got 700 hours of that in a year so chock that up as a success. Was a company instructor in the 99, and got invaluable experience. Just last week I got put through my paces in a BE200 with an ex Northwest Airlines instructor, and he was surprised that a 2600TT guy flew a multi turbine single pilot (emergency procedures and all) like it was nothing. I wouldn't trade my /a no-autopilot MTPIC for anything. My job in a Citation is directly linked to my experience as a freight guy. HOWEVER. My wife hated me, my kids asked why dad was never home, my family lived in the ghetto and we blew through our life savings just trying to make ends meet. I freelanced as an instructor trying to pay the bills, and was pretty much an absent parent and father for a year. I spent my 200+ nights away from home in a ******** crew apartment filled with black mold, and generally had no contact from the management group, except for sunny canned motivational emails. My first run which I was assigned was illegal per our Ops manual and 135 regs. I miss AMF like a hemorrhoid. However, my current contract work was made possible by the single pilot turbine freight job that AMF got me.

If you want turbine PIC, it's the place for you. But it's a craphole company, and all the long timers were either autistic and weird as *hit, or just had no desire to move upward professionally. If you want to top out under 100k, stay here. Personally, I more than doubled my AMF pay the day I quit, and cut my hours worked a week by 70%. Folks that stay either have no motivation or ability to move upward.

There you go, PRO and NEG. hate if you wish. That's my first hand experience.


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I didn't imply anything in my statement. You take offense because of your insecurity. There are a multitude of reasons why AMF is not a career destination, the fact that you stayed there is on you and you have your reasons, that is fine. McDonalds isn't a career job either, that doesn't mean that people don't stay there until they die or retire.

AMF isn't the glory hole for career progression. The pilot in question being former AMF is absolutely not the reason she hasn't done IOE yet. Atlas is a crap show and IOE times suffer because of it. My gripe is how she is labeled as "somebody from AMF that went to Atlas." That is absolutely 100% incorrect. She left TMC for Atlas so she is somebody from TMC that went to Atlas. This mentality of how AMF seems to get you anywhere you want is false and disingenuous. Thats like saying Every ERAU grad at Delta went from ERAU to Delta.

I saw Sherri post on somebody's wall on FB who went to Atlas a couple of years ago, this person had 2 jobs after AMF, yet her comment was something to the effect of "awesome! From AMF to Atlas!" There is an over arching cultural mentality that places AMF above all and it is simply incorrect. That doesn't mean that the time in the logbook isn't valuable or that the skill set that pilots gain isn't useful, valuable and valued by other employers.

 

How else would they get people to stay on? They have to provide value, or at least the illusion of value. Personally I think if you get much beyond a year you are stagnating. Get in, and get out.


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Well that is why I am so polarized against that type of talk and mentality. There are positives to AMF if you don't compare it to the regionals or other jobs that are like your first professional job, so compartmentalizing AMF and evaluating it, there are some positives for the right person, but AMF is still very much in the business of "selling" AMF to employees, and if a job with huge career progression potential has to constantly sell you on it, something is fishy.

 

I'm not aware of anyone thinking AMF will get them to the majors. When I was there most folks were there to get TPIC and ME time to get over ATP mins and move on. Most of my class quit within months, having accomplished their goals. Whether AMF or some other company I believe that feeder cargo on ones resume is a plus. But I don't think 3 years of it is any better than 1 year.


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