Ameriflight OAK Base?

[Freight Dog]

Has anyone called BUR Flight Ops and told them what Kurt is forcing them to do? When I was there, I did exactly that, and BUR flight ops told me I was right, he was wrong and they overrode his decision.

Unionizing is not a win for employees, but rather a failure of management. In case of AMF, I think the management should actively solicit feedback from pilots and if something is prevalent, they should act on it. For example, if OAK pilots are massively complaining about Kurt's chronic assholia breaking out, he should be warned, and if he doesn't take steps to cure it, he should get canned. I know I wouldn't want union if I knew my management genuinely cared about my and my fellow pilots' concerns.

Trout, there is a fine line between business making money, and unsafe working environment that sick people like Kurt and his bow-tied OAK station manager are advocating.

 

[qwerty]

Kurt passed away, out of respect, let him rest in peace.

 

[Sir Humpalot]

I didnt like Kurt as the asst chief at OAK but as a person, he was good to me. As a pilot, he knew his stuff. I was so shocked about his death earlier this month. May his family and freinds always remember him, cuz i will certainly.

I didnt agree with him many times, but i never disrespected him either. He was certainly a character. I remember his favorite line "you still dont get it do you?" I used to see him every morning when i left and at night, when i get back to base, he was always there listening to the same pilot bull**CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** that he has heard for 10 years. Maybe the hardest working pilot at amf. I didnt see him as the chief, but more like the babysitter. May that be a testimonial to his hard work. At the xmas parties, he was the life of the party and my girlfreind always asked me if he was the chief?

 

[Freight Dog]

May he rest in peace and God bless his soul. I truly didn't know he had passed away.

What happened?

 

[CorpLearDriver]

Hmmm, sounds seriously like someone needs a vacation. I flew for Cal Air/AMF for over 14 years (1985 - 2000). Yeah, I'm one of those guys who hung around there a while. I had my gripes and complaints over the years too. However, I've been around a while and no place will be good enough for some people. Some folks are just not happy unless they have something to complain about and to get some attention. Maybe it isn't the case here. I'm not there now, so I do know the whole story. But I can guess much of it, as it always repeats itself.

In those nearly 14 years, I saw growth in the seniority list from 64 pilots to nearly 230. I saw major base expansion and I also saw 4 attempts at organizing a union. The biggest problem with the organizing of one was that it was always during the lean or slow years where people were not getting what they wanted right away. Sure the work was hard and the pay and glamor are not there.

I was at AMF when they were shut down and lost their original certificate. I was also paid for the two weeks it too to go the the process of getting a new certificate and start operations again. The company took a big hit then and ALL the pilots were paid during that time period. Nobody was laid off. That was a management decision, not because of a Union. I really don't think a Union will help you all that much.

Now I am sure you have some legitimate gripes. But face it, you still have a job when a lot of folks do not. You are still paid to fly. Tough it out and things will eventually get better.

I've said my piece.

I'll tell you what it means. It means that you have 2300 hours of flying between 2 airports. It means that you started flying at AMF when you had 1200tt and barely meet the IFR mins.

 

[CorpLearDriver]

This too is cyclical. At one point it was BUR then CVG, it ebbs and flows. So no matter what base you are at, it will happen there at some time or other.

Now, here's an example from my past at AMF. Once while I was based at ONT, I flew a Beech to OXR. I was running a bit late one after noon, and the landing gear failed to extend. Eventually I got it down without having to pump it. I was unable to reach BUR dispatch on the radio and landed at OXR after having done a fly by previously. (point #1, ANY time you do something like a fly-by, a report is generated by the tower to the FSDO).

Now being the good employee I was and taking into account the 6 airports between OXR and ONT, VFR WX, being 1,000 lbs under gross wt. and a few million other things when we start rushing and pressuring ourselves, I stiff-legged the Beech to ONT (with Cargo on board) THEN wrote up the squawk.

3 or 4 days later I get a call from John Hazlet. I get called into his office (he was Dir of Ops at that time) and proceeded to chew me a new you-know-what. He explained that AMF lives in a fish bowl and when the FSDO calls him and asks about an incident, and he doesn't know the first thing about it, it looks REAL BAD! He mentioned something about "when your good, your very good. But when your bad, you really stink." Anyway, I was put on probation, the FAA slapped my hand pretty hard and I survived to be ashamed of being that dumb.

I don't tell this story lightly because it is embarrasing. But it happened and I shared it with many junior crew members there so that they might learn when it was time to say NO. So, if someone is "pushing" you to fly a broken airplane, it is "YOU" who really makes the choice and if you get static about it, speak up to the next level.

This is just from my prospective. Take it for what it's worth.

I cant believe that you people think that amf management follows the rules. I have been here for awhile and know that OAK managers look the other way to break regs for their needs. But when there are problems, they wash their hands from the pilots. I have seen many things here and the pressure that new pilots have to keep Kurt and the bow-tie manager happy and off their backs.