Air Midwest Info

[rickair7777]

Being a corporate rat some of the language is foreign to me, so sorry for asking a stupid question but what comprises a "bid period?". Obviously this seems to have a large affect on yearly income so while looking at payscales it would be helpful to know.

Thanks

The bid period is the length of time which schedules, days off, and min guarantee are based on. Often it's a calendar month, sometimes something else, like 28 days. This is important to compare apples to apples...Mesa uses 28 days.

Mesa (28 Day Bid) converted to monthly for comparison:
Min Days Off: 10 (8 reserve) = 11 (9 reserve) per month
Guarantee: 70 hours = 76 hours monthly

Pay attention to this when comparing airlines.

 

[biscuit]

?

Air Midwest was one of the lowest points in my flying career. (but still was a good experience)

Yes, the B1900D is a great transition from GA to 121 or (135 in AMW's case) but life is not good there in my personal opinion.

1. Quick upgrades - don't believe it till you upgrade. We were told several times we were upgrading only to have big Mesa change the outlook.

2. "Bump and Flush" - learn that term. Learn it well. With 28 bases you will get very used to it...about every other month in many cases. Oh, look at the locations of the bases. Consider what like is life in someplace like Massena, NY or Salina, KS.

3. Per-Diem - Don't expect several hundred dollars of it because you fly all day trips. Unlike the jet where you get 24 hours perdiem for several days, at AMW you get 8-12 hours perdiem as a day trip. Oh, day trip perdiem is TAXABLE income.

4. Enjoy standing in the rain while holding the prop and keeping a foot on the airstairs so people don't get injured on the way up?

5. The air conditioning does not condition.

6. Commute to/from work - not possible so don't try it.

7. No FA, no autopilot, no ice, no water. You do the pax brief, talk to the exit row, check seatbelts, check baggage, load and unload the carry on baggage, and if the autobriefer is inop - brief the pax.

Don't get me wrong here. AMW is a good transition from being a CFI and the people in training and your co workers are great. Don't expect any type of support from anyone else. You are a number and you are replaceable at the drop of a hat. I just wouldn't go there expecting a quick upgrade if you also have the option of going to a jet (where life is pretty good considering the items I've mentioned above).

 

[redneck captain]

oh, lets see, where do i start?

QOL - sucks, Unless u like moving to off the wall places
reserve - learn to like, u will be there awhile
airplane - fun to fly, but don't expect everything to work, ever...
schedule - if u get one, 10 legs a day( good for a time builder) now think about doing that same route 2 - 5 years!

commuting - sure..... no less than 3 - 4 legs, unless u live at a major hub

oh, the best thing at air midwest..... knowing that management will not back a crew member on anything..... guilty til proven innocent!

other than that, pretty good job!