Mountain Air Cargo

[tsky]

I'm not sure about MAC, but Empire is now in the CASS system.

 

[A300FE]

Upgrade times are random as hell... i personally would not make a life of it.... or wait till you upgrade then try to move on onless all you want to do is haul freight the rest of your life... the normal route you take there is atr (f27) fo then caravan pic then captain... just watch out for the comfort trap... once you get in the van you will make way more than any fo salary at any other company that you are competitive for and you will really never want to leave financially... but you will only be logging single engine pic (practically worthless) at a rate of like 250 hours a year.
If you wait at that point to get into the captain atr you might be 30 or so... and next thing you know u've become a lifer.... (not that there's anything wrong with that... )

Do you know what is the average flight time per yr. that you can log as FO on the ATR? Even if you fly 2 hrs. a day, you should be logging at least 350-400 p/yr., right? Do you fly more if you float? Thanks.

 

[fr8r]

MAC is a great company! I flew with them for about 1.5 years. I flew the 'van and really grew to love the plane and the people I worked with. My only gripe was their medical insurance. It becomes very expensive if you want to cover a wife and kid. Other than that, the management is fantastic and if you do your job and git 'r dun, you never hear from them. The only reason I left was because I was offered a job in my hometown with a type rating. I was commuting to my base and staying there all week. If I didn't have to do that, I would still be there. By the way, flying the 'van is part of what got me my current job. The new company also has a 'van. All things being equal and I could choose between my current job and MAC. I would choose MAC. Not because I don't like my new job, but because at MAC, you get treated like a pilot and not a concierge(I am flying passengers now Anyhow, that is my take. If you want a job at MAC, be assertive and polite. Show them that you are the right one for the job and that you WILL get the job done. During my interview, when asked why they should hire me, I simply said "I'll get the job done." I believe that went a long way. Also, if you have applied before, make sure you bring that up. If they are still making you fly the sim, it is a computer based sim that fly's nothing like an airplane. Just show corrective action when things go bad in it and state what you are doing. That is all the sim is for. I flew it like total crap and I got hired. That being said, good luck to anyone looking to MAC for employment!

 

[na4life]

fr8r,
did you fly checks in NC/SC for a while back in 2003 or so?

 

[A300FE]

As many of us in this industry I hate to commute. Given the choice of an Indi or Memphis base what city would you choose to move with your family? I would prefer to see them every day than working all week to commute during the weekend. Let me give you some info: I am not looking for partying (that was long time ago), I am married with children (7 & 9) and trying to decide where to go. I am interested in the school system, safety, crime rate, quality of life. I have been in Dallas, TX, for the last 15 years, and the warm weather keeps me comfortable. Unfortunately the crime rate here has increased exponentially in the last few years. We had a brake in 6 months ago. Schools are OK. Thanks for any info.

Oh, by the way! Got hired and going to class in January. See you out there!!

 

[Piper877]

As many of us in this industry I hate to commute. Given the choice of an Indi or Memphis base what city would you choose to move with your family? I would prefer to see them every day than working all week to commute during the weekend. Let me give you some info: I am not looking for partying (that was long time ago), I am married with children (7 & 9) and trying to decide where to go. I am interested in the school system, safety, crime rate, quality of life. I have been in Dallas, TX, for the last 15 years, and the warm weather keeps me comfortable. Unfortunately the crime rate here has increased exponentially in the last few years. We had a brake in 6 months ago. Schools are OK. Thanks for any info.

Oh, by the way! Got hired and going to class in January. See you out there!!

I'm from Indiana and lived in Indianapolis for 5 years. My brother lives in Hamilton County which is a suburb of Indy. Fishers and/or Noblesville are the cities in Hamilton County. It's in the top 5 fastest growing areas in the country. The schools in Fishers are consistently rated in the top of the state. Crime is very low there and they're dealing with the growth quite well. My brother just had a daughter and is planning to raise her there. I can recommend Indy as a base. I'd recommend you look into the northeast side to make your home.

Now, can you get me a 'van job?

 

[A300FE]

Thank you Piper877.

I think I will be based in Indi for awhile. Will see after training what happens. As far as a "van job", FedEx is pretty strict on 2000 hrs. PIC. I am 250 hrs. short of that, even if I have over 3500TT. I recommend you to get to the 2000 PIC time, or something less if you want to start on the ATR as FO and work your way up. I was told that after a year the co. might waive up to 300 hrs. an let you upgrade to the Van.

 

[astropilot]

Hey A300FE are you in training now? or do you start in Jan? Right now they are hard up for van drivers so throw your resume to them and maybe give them a call (HR) They don't mind.

 

[CargoATRdriver]

Thats great! Congrats! Enjoy that month down there in Houston.. it gets quite long and you'll learn to hate the airplane, but atleast they get you a car. Louthers BBQ and Central Texas BBQ for lunch is a must!! :beer:

We've always said the best place to be in memphis is Out of Memphis. There are a bunch of nicer (used loosly) areas to the south east of memphis in mississippi, Olive branch and what not... Its pretty rural out that way and even where its not, it is loaded with the stuff Jeff Foxworthy got his material from..... Memphis is also a heck of a lot more comfortable in the winter than Indy, are they basing in Indy?? i know there is one crew and a few guys still there from the Fokker days, but i didnt think there would be a lot there otherwise. Sometime in the future the Greensboro hub should be opening up which might be a the nicest of all the areas to settle down. I would also caution you if you decide to base at an outstation that FedEx changes the ATR bases as areas grow and decline... You could settle down in an area and be there and happy for a few years then all of a sudden they decide to bring in a mainline airplane and re-allocate the ATR and now you've got yourself a dilema... do you uproot the family or just never see them anymore and commute??... (Recent example of this is the Nashville base which was lost to 727 service)
Memphis is a sure bet (base security wise) if you can tolerate it and you and your family can be happy there.

Also, if you base at one of the fedex hubs you will have the best life because your duty days will be the shortest. Unless its peak, you will only ever take freight out after the sort which means you will not show at the airport until midnight or so... and then take a load of freight somewhere, they'll unload you and you come home empty.... you can be back home and in bed not long after the sun comes up because they can offload those airplanes in like 15 mins versus the sometimes never ending loading process...

Best of luck to you in training!!

 

[Piper877]

Thank you Piper877.

I think I will be based in Indi for awhile. Will see after training what happens. As far as a "van job", FedEx is pretty strict on 2000 hrs. PIC. I am 250 hrs. short of that, even if I have over 3500TT. I recommend you to get to the 2000 PIC time, or something less if you want to start on the ATR as FO and work your way up. I was told that after a year the co. might waive up to 300 hrs. an let you upgrade to the Van.

No problem my friend. Indy isn't such a bad place. For a family it's great and they got pro football, and basketball if you ever want to take the wife and kids to a game. AAA baseball too.

I'm noticing that about the high PIC requirements for the Van. I'll keep pluggin away though.

Good luck to you in your training and new job!