Thanks, but it was a rhetorical question. Since the employee/pilot calls are not mandatory and I'm guessing a fraction of the total pilot group actually participates in the calls, management still chose not to release a memo that would inform everyone. Its really not surprising based on the revolving door of management positions in Dallas over the last couple years and the promotion of people into those positions by default rather than by their qualifications. The UPS program is a step in the right direction, but the benefits are not going to be seen for quite some time. 1500 hours in type rated equipment and 30 months flying the line is obviously a minimum of 2.5 years away. My guess is that UPS won't look at "flow through" AMF captains until they are sure their interns can make it through UPS training after flying for AMF. Again, several years away. A schedule of 4 on 3 off is a cute goal to have, but last time AMF was fat on pilots, they temporarily furloughed the new hires instead of incorporating them into the schedule to give relief to the pilot group. They would need dozens more pilots to make that schedule work. Hopefully AMF can keep the doors open long enough to see the results of the program.

 

How would that benefit UPS and the UPS pilots? Other than flying mostly at night, what carryover would an AMF pilot bring to UPS as an asset?

 

AMF management credibility..... ZERO

 

How come some AMF pilots were the polo shirts and some are in full airline pilot regalia, complete with tie?

 

Pilot choice. I wear the polo just because it is more comfortable (I hate ties.)

 

A first hand understanding of UPS operations?

I don't know. What asset does any pilot bring to a different company? Their flying skills? Their work ethic?

Seems to me that too much emphasis seems to be made of jet time. In my experience, the only thing more difficult about flying a jet than a turboprop is that you need to plan your arrival speed adjustments more carefully because you can't slow down as quickly. Unless you want to use the spoilers.

 

AMF pilots don't have a first hand knowledge of UPS. They have a first hand knowledge of a part of the feeder structure. AMF pilots who fly UPS runs aren't held to UPS SOPs or policies. You carry brown boxes, that's it.

The hilarious aspect of somebody with zero jet time commenting on how to fly a jet isn't lost on me, however it isn't so much about it being harder, it's just different. Single pilot IFR in a turboprop twin is harder than everything, however its the least desired industry position by almost every airline that can hire able bodied jet pilots. UPS is an airline, AMF is nothing like an airline. AMF makes good single engine turboprop pilots, problem is, there are thousands of well qualified, true multi crew, jet pilots looking to work at UPS, with a large percentage of those being pilots with heavy jet international time. Once that crop of pilots dries up, you bet that UPS will be hiring turboprop guys, it all trickles down.

I would be shocked to see an actual flow to any company. So far, every agreement between AMF and another company has been riddled with prerequisites and ambiguous wording to make it very hard to understand and even harder to take advantage of.

 

Sounds like AMF worded it deliberately that way as bait to lure newbies thinking that they would "flow" to the partner airline after putting in the required time.

 

AMF had to do something to attract people. The recruiters even call it a flow through (as seen on here) but isn't even close to a flow.

 

We are not calling our UPS agreement a flow.
We have repeatedly on this thread referred to it as a Gateway Program only.
The other three we are calling a flow per each agreement signed by both parties.