Selfmade92

Quick Review for everyone considering AMF:

I'm a F/O on the 1900. The flying is pretty standard once you upgrade to CP. There's some medical/radio active runs that look really interesting and do about 7h a day. (about 5pm to 5am).
Most of the regular flying is starting at 5 am, fly to outstation arrive at around 7 am. Offload Cargo, done by UPS, I ain't touching that crap ( ), go to hotel, come back in 6h and fly back.

I like that schedule, as it gives you enough time to work on your online degree, work out in the gym, play a lot of PS4/XB1/PC and build time to go to your next step in your career, if it be the regionals, low cost carrier or Major. Most of the guys still go to the regionals, I wouldn't, but then I got some good amount of recommendations for JetBlue, and won't settle for anything less.


Moneywise:

ITS great! I make about $50k/yr as an F/O. 99 Captains probably will make up to 70k/yr, and 1900 Capts will make close to 100k 1st year.


Those include realistic numbers, as most runs pay extra, not just the standard 40 units per week.



Overall: Ameriflight is a GREAT company! I can only recommend it. Had great fun, the training captains take care of you, make sure you know what you're doing! And there's a reason AMF has that stigma around it of being the best training department in the industry!

AkAv8er

Hello,

I’m moving to Seattle with the wife in the next month and am taking a hard look at Ameriflight. It looks like it could be a good fit with said wife (weekend warrior) but I have a few questions that are alluding me.

I’m looking at the beech 1900 captain posting at BFI. I have the min prerequisites but not a lot more. I’m hoping I can be a viable candidate but could be open to working into that role if nec.

I see that most schedules avg. 5 days a week maybe 60 hrs/mo. Is a schedule like that something to expect as a newb out of training? Would it be unrealistic to hope for most weekends off? About how many overnights a month are you all averaging (esp. newer folks)? Should I expect to be on reserve for a while out of training? If so how long does it take to get a line and how much flying are folks getting on reserve?

What kind of delay are people seeing between applying and an interview? What kind of time frame bet. a job offer and a start to training? I’ve heard that training is pretty intensive- maybe comparable to a regional airline. Is training usually a few months plus ioe?

Lastly just looking for more info on the aircraft. I’ve seen a lot of varying opinions on the a/c and equipment. I’ve flown g1000 caravans and Alaska bush planes with stacks you need to sweet talk and consider slapping around; I feel like I’ve seen both extremes. What kind of avionics are in the B1900s? Autopilots (besides FO)? Are you folks pretty happy with the maintenance program?

A pilot friend told me that Ameriflight may pay for your atp after a few years if the stars align. Is that true?

Thanks for any input.

Selfmade92

Yes, AMF will pay for your ATP once you move on to a Type rated equipment. So if you get to your recurrent 6 months later, they'll pay for your ATP-CTP and give you an ATP upon finishing your recurrent.

Most BE1900s have GTN750s and 650s, good autopilots. But the plane is so easy to fly, even without autpilot, I mostly fly it without autopilot as long as the flight is shorter than 1h.

Right now there shouldn't be a delay at all for 1900 people, the BE99 though is having a fairly significant delay as there are not enough trainers available.

As a new hire it will depend what days you'll have off, mostly on base. At the 2 bases I've been so far, everyone had Saturday and Sunday off, at Dallas most people also get one more day off during the week, sometimes 2, so you often only fly 3 days and are off 4. And still get paid 46 units a week.

Training itself is considered to be the toughest in the industry, they expect you to be fairly current, but they instated a MEICC course now,
which is a one week course of getting you back to speed on IFR procedures! It truly helped some people who had been rusty on IFR and I'm glad the company does that! Helps the succession rate!

EDIT: I did 95h in October on the BE1900! Most BE1900 runs probably average around 70h.

BravoPapa

Do all of the planes have autopilots? How are the EMB 120s generally equipped that you come in as a FO on?

If you have to pay for the MEICC course, now much is it?

Selfmade92

MEICC is fully paid by AMF. They truly want you to succeed. They need you as much as you need them! Actually, they might need you more.

I don't fly the E120s, but they're all two crew and much better autopilots than the BE1900. The 1900 autpilot has track, heading and altitude hold.
Most captains fly the plane up to altitude with track or heading hold and engage altitude hold once at cruise, I still enjoy flying it all manually up to 25,000ft and then engage track and altitude hold.

The 1900 I fly has a GNS530W, most have GTN750s, I've heard we have some with KLN90 left. None left without GPS or autopilot. All autopilots work and all GPS work.

colonials13

Any idea when hiring will resume for FOs on the E-120?

captjns

Everts Air Cargo is looking for EMB120 FOs based in Laredo. Its about 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off.

smc2020

If you are currently at a base, is it possible to become Home Based?

frmrbuffdrvr

Let me correct a partial error in a previous reply. You won't get your ATP at your first recurrent at 6 months. The earliest would be at your first annual recurrent. They want at least a year out of you before making that kind of investment.

As for weekends, I think Seattle only has one run that operates on the weekend and it is a metro. The plane repositions to SUS on Saturday and then flies to SLC and BFI with the medical low level radioactive cargo.

You can plan 6-8 weeks for training, counting Indoc, MEICC and aircraft training, including OE.

As for avionics, I'm not positive if all 1900s have GPS yet. I know we are sending them and the metros through as fast as we can. All BE99s and E120s have GPS. Some BE99s don't have autopilots but all other aircraft do.

As a pilot I know that if you have a mx issue there is no one in your chain of command that will pressure you to fly a broken airplane. Now if an issue is legally MEL'd, then you should have a good reason if you choose to refuse it.

The other responder's estimate might be a bit high for pay, unless he is counting the bonuses AMF has offered the past couple of years to stay over two Peak periods. There is talk something will be offered again this year, but no specifics have been released yet. But the pay is MUCH better then it was just 3 or 4 years ago. Starting pay for a BE99 captain today is about the same as an eleven year metro captain ten years ago.

frmrbuffdrvr

As our existing FOs reach 135 captain minimums, we will need to replace them. So it shouldn't be more than a few months. It depends on where you want to be based. (Home basing is not an option for E120 FOs.) If you are flexible on where you will go, then there should be openings every couple of months.