Few things for those looking to apply here:

Pay is great, especially for this job.

Flying is extremely enjoyable, planes are good as well.

If you get a good base, not having to commute is amazing.

You will get a lot of good experience here that introduces you to the world of commercial aviation.

There are no flow agreements, don’t expect to get hired by any of the airlines they mention on their websites, especially not at certain time periods.


You will not know your base ahead of time. You will likely not get the base you want. You will not get home based, don’t expect it. That’s how they rope you in.

You will get more pay than the standard they quote for most routes.

A lot of the cities they operate in have good standards of living.

Management is nearly universally terrible. The people themselves can be amazing, but no one department knows what the other is doing and communication is awful. Expect to not get answers or critical information without going out to ask for it. Assume the answers you get are wrong. The new ceo seems promising, but delivering on what’s promised seems to be a recurring issue.

Ameriflight will take care of you- probably. Have cash on hand to take care of expenses when you’re here, they might get you transportation and rental cars, they might not.

This is a great place to start your career, don’t plan on staying unless you fall in love with the flying and the schedule you get. Some bases have very dependable schedules, others will change it on you multiple times a week. There is no consistency here, until you’re very senior.

You will not get time off around the winter holidays-don’t expect it.

You will be in class with, and asked to fly with dangerous people. Do not assume they know how to fly just because they’ve been there longer than you or have been in aviation longer. The worst ones are typically the retirees looking for a second career, Ameriflight loves them, there’s reasons they should stay retired but Ameriflight keeps hiring them. If they break procedure report it-just don’t expect anyone to do anything about it. Keep yourself safe, follow procedure and speak up. Again, they probably won’t do anything about it, but don’t sacrifice your life just to get your hours. Lots of pilots here do things differently, that’s okay, but a lot of them do and say dangerous things because no one is watching them.


The training pipeline is awful, they have no idea what they’re doing week to week, much of the stuff you’ll learn is wrong or outdated, and you’ll be fed contradicting information by everyone. Study, in order, your GOM and opspecs(for Indoc), then your systems(for week 3), and then your flows (for simulator and checkride). You will be confused and lost and until they gut the training and get someone who knows how to run it, this won’t change.

You will get to fly some amazing airplanes in some amazing places while you’re here. Some runs will get boring fast, but that’s cargo life. As long as you follow procedure, keep your IFR skills up, and don’t get lazy, you’ll get paid well and get some good turbine time. Just don’t expect anything from Ameriflight management, and don’t let other pilots kill you, and you’ll be fine.

It’s not the best job, it’s not the worst. Solid B-.

For what it’s worth, I’ve heard nothing but good about FreightDog. Have them get you in contact with actual pilots if you have any questions.

 

It seems to me that if a position is open at a base, you’ll get it. If a position is not open at your base, wait a short while and it will be.

I haven’t seen routes being paid more than standard yet, but I’m still new here. Are you talking about special routes?

 

I am continually amazed by how (1) AMF has a bad reputation and (2) they don't care about it and don't do anything about it.

It seems their bad reputation continues to be justified.

 

It definitely is not my first job in aviation...yes, I see people in the first jobs are often idealistic and have unrealistic expectations in what they expect at a job...saw it very often at other places......AMF has done everything they said they would. No complaints. Sure, communication at ANY company could be better internally, but anybody that has worked at company or two of any size knows this. Attitude goes a long way, and while no place is perfect, the biggest plus here is you are not backed into a corner or made to doing anything by a union contract...you can make a case, explain, and a supervisor can make a decision. Yes, there is a job to get done, like at any company.
I believe that many unhappy people are just unhappy because suddenly "the dream" of flying suddenly become"the grind" and some are not ready for it...it's true at any regional or major. It's a job...it's a paycheck...it's a lifestyle.
Find the one that suits you best, and be happy.

 

Zippy,


I am glad to hear that AMF works for you.

 

So far it's worked....I think that EVERY regional has a thread that is titled something along the lines of "don't come here" or "if I had known".... heck...if you spend time jump seating, you will find that even the majors have unhappy pilots....but the grass is always green on the other side of the fence....
If people are realistic, and understand what the job is, I think they stand a better chance of some level of happiness and satisfaction. Careful selection of routes based on factors important to the parties involved is important. For me, that means varrations in schedule to prevent route-rut, and on some runs, as eluded to the company tag-line, "delivering more than cargo", I help to fight a deadly disease that kills many, one that took my own mother years ago, so there is an added bonus of an intangible feeling of doing something to help others.

https://w3.ameriflight.com/moving-cargo-saving-lives/

it's in everybody's best interest to use these threads to try to do exactly that, so people aren't blindly going to companies, then jumping ship, creating large training backlogs, and making shortages of flight crew worse, and potentially reducing first year pay everywhere due to turnover.
Idealistic, maybe, but honestly more realistic IMHO.

 

How difficult/reasonable is the process to move to another base? For example at hire, if the base you desire isn't open (and go to one that is), but an opening does pop up in a few months at the one you desire?

 

Thats easy. Bids go out every month and list open equipment in each domicile. Say Be99-SLC or B1900-BUR. There have been alot of opening recently and sometimes there are multiple openings for the same aircraft in the same base. You can bid open equipment that you are qualified for in the desired base and as long as nobody 1. already in the base bids for that aircraft type or 2. someone that is senior to you at the company (but in a different base than what you are bidding for bids for it) you get it. There is an domicile commitment of 6 months for each move.

 

Awesome. Thank you!

 

Many pilots also will also take a TDY, a temporary duty assignment for extra $$ to go to a different base...so there are some interesting possibilities for people flexible with locations.