sounds like you are out near Grove OK?......flew mail out of Joplin years ago.
Typical schedule in feeder cargo is NOT like the airlines...
It's often am to Fri pm or some varration on that....
often you work and couple hours in the am...a couple in the pm...and have all day, and all night off...
Leaving you at your base, either during the day or the night depending on the route....so a commuter would also need a place to stay in many cases, since housing at your base is your responsibility.
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Coronavirus is definitely having short term effects on airlines, the long term potential is definitely there. I wouldn't want to be at the bottom of an airline seniority list either.

I do live in Grove. We moved here two years ago. My California/Colorado wife, who said she'd never live in Oklahoma, loves it here. I grew up in Tulsa and am glad to be back in OK.

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Has Ameriflight stopped responding to these posts?

Hoping to help on this one.
Our schedule doesn't leave room for commuting. Our pilots must live within 1.5 hours from the base they agree upon in their offer letter.
Of course, you can skirt around that by renting a place close to the base and then trying to fly home as often as possible, but it won't give you a great QOL that way.

The majority of our pilots either already lived near a base or relocated. So with our schedule (Mon-Fri, morning to evening, regional flights), they are getting nights and weekends at home. That's the goal!
Without relocating, for you to get home it would be flying home on the weekends or putting in for vacation.
As a Captain, the schedules are the same and the situation would be similar.

This does not sound like an ideal situation for you.

when I was flying a USPS run, would go to the Grove airport (from Joplin) for MX....flew over that lake many times.
Ask around... remember CFI trucking had a flight department and remember them looking for locals in Springfield and Joplin. Ask around....you might be surprised.
If you happen to live in an location where a freight pilot is NEEDED, or are willing to relocate, flying cargo can be pretty good, with lots of time at home. If you try to commute....there might be better options unless you are young and willing to mover every few months. Good luck!
Freight is definitely an option, but it might be more about finding the right route, since most companies try to find a local or a person who is willing to move due to QOL and fatigue issue....have done runs 5 hrs away from home, driving home for the weekend Saturday afternoon, leaving Monday am...it's doable, but honestly, it wears you out after a few months.

This is really disappointing... I've been thinking about joining Ameriflight for over a year now after seeing a recruitment video on YouTube. The recruiter said you could work for Ameriflight if you lived within an hour of an airport w/ at least 2 airlines and that once you were a captain you were typically on 18 and off 12 (with some variation) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXE4pPLg1Do ; but you're saying that captains do Monday - Friday (or Sat) like the FOs?

I figured we could live with me being away a lot for that first year or so while building up to captain, but figured as captain I could commute with an 18-12 kind of schedule . Did it change or did I misunderstand someone?

Thanks Zippy. I'll start checking it out. My problem is needing to be Part 135 as I only have a little over 500 hrs. and it's hard to build hours around here without my own plane... nobody rents out planes around here unless I go up to Joplin (which is what I am currently doing).

I thought AMF was the way to go.

Go fly survey.

I'm afraid that video is from a few years ago when we were hiring "Home Based Captains." It turned out it just wasn't economically feasible for the type of flying we do.