AirNow

[moxiepilot]

It seems like the most recent posts are about a year old now, so I was wondering if anyone here currently works (or worked) for them. How the ops are etc. etc.

I'm contemplating looking into their 'van position

[n57flyguy]

Others know A LOT more about them than me, but the phrase I have heard three times with out even asking about them was, "Don't work at AirNow, you'll get killed there."

If memory serves, a lawsuit came up because a pilot wouldn't fly with a broken attitude indicator. Four EMB crashes, two or three were fatal. Again, others know more, but that would be enough for me...

[n57flyguy]

Yeah, I found some...

You'll get killed at Airnow, avoid them at all costs.

They crashed four EMB-110's last year and the year before that they lost a lawsuit against a pilot that they fired when he wouldn't depart with a busted attitude indicator (he couldn't MEL it).

AirNow is a place to avoid at ALL costs.

Technically it was 4 crashes in a year and a half (first one was january of 05 and the most recent was this past summer), 3 of them fatal. 2 of the crashes were BGR based pilots, including the nonfatal one. The 'van guy that won the lawsuit was also BGR based.

Funny thing is they have an ad posted in the FBO at BGR looking for pilots.

Stay as far away as you can from Airnow!

[moxiepilot]

Yeah thanks - read those. A few bad accidents can change a company's outlook...

Plus the NTSB report on the fatality from bangor described the Bandit's WX by way of the police report.

That's one of the reasons I'm looking into this, things change - sometimes people make mistakes (unfortunately resulting in fatalities), and sometimes you only hear the bad, not the good.

Decisions come through informed research. I'm hoping to get some current input.

[pilot4500]

I can give you some more recent info on AirNow. I was briefly employed with them back in October of 2005. My employment with them only lasted 3 weeks. I was hired as a Caravan pilot. At first it seemed like a good outfit to work for. I could get some turbine PIC time right in my home state of Vermont.

The training program was nothing less than disgraceful. For one thing, it was completely disorganized and without any structure. They were pretty much winging it as they went along. They had me go along on several ride alongs and didn't leave me any time to study the material that was presented in class. I found out about their safety record which involved 4 crashes in less than two years. Two of them were fatal. That had me concerned. The other thing that concerned me was a recent wrongful termination lawsuit in which someone was fired for refusing to fly in night IMC with a broken attitude indicator.

Their dispatch is completely disorganized, their planes are falling apart, QOL is poor, and most of the pilots that I spoke to seemed unhappy there. I left after 3 weeks of training because of everything that I saw there.

I have been working for Ram Air since December. And yes Ram Air does have its share of problems, but it is 1,000 times better than working for AirNow. If you want to fly cargo in the northeast, I would recommend Airnet or Wiggins. DO NOT work for AirNow. That place is downright scary.

[pilot4500]

I need to make one correction to my last post. My employment with Airnow was in October 2006, not 2005.

[wheelsup]

I second working for wiggins, and not working for Airnow .

[moxiepilot]

its all good. I committed to my boss for another 1.5 years flight instructing. I'll have about 4000 hours by then. I think I'll be employable by wiggins

[FlySmiley]

I used to run into one of their pilots almost every day in NY. Whenever the FAA would do their ramp checks they would barely even do a walk around for us (Airnet), but would scrutinize the AirNow planes pretty heavily and make noise about really little things. That might tell you something.

[30West]

Here is my point of view about AirNow. I worked for AirNow from January 2001 though June 2004. I started in the Caravan flying checks out of BUF, then 6 mos later upgraded to the EMB110 flying out of PLB. You will hear alot of negative stuff about AirNow on here and flightinfo, but most of this is from people that have not worked there, and from people that went there expecting a glamourous job in shiny new planes. The 3 and a half years I spent at AirNow were some of the best times flying I have ever had. There is NOTHING like flying single pilot IFR in a plane that requires a type rating. You have heard about the semi recents accidents, and Im not going to play arm chair quarterback and tell you stuff about what happened, but if you look at the reports it is glaringly obvious that pilot error is a huge factor. You have probably also heard that some people think management "makes" you do thinks that are not safe too. One of the best things about that job was having the responsibility to make my own judgement calls good or bad, and I was NEVER forced to do something I didnt think was safe. If you dont have the balls to say no if you know something isnt safe, then you have no business working at ANY 135 operator. I enjoyed my time at AirNow, and would definately encourage the right type of person to look into AirNow. Flying single pilot freight at a place like AirNow requires a different tye of pilot, you have to be optimistic, hard working, energetic, and above ALL else a good pilot who is capable of making good judgement calls. Let me know if can give you any more info.

[OldTownPilot]

Originally Posted by 30West

....You have probably also heard that some people think management "makes" you do thinks that are not safe too. One of the best things about that job was having the responsibility to make my own judgement calls good or bad, and I was NEVER forced to do something I didnt think was safe. If you dont have the balls to say no if you know something isnt safe, then you have no business working at ANY 135 operator....

Its apparent you never talked to the guy that lost his job over refusing to fly an illegal airplane. Thats all I have to say about management pushing pilots too far.

Ive seen the FAA inspectors do their Wiggins vs. AirNow inspections.

Ameriflight had a Metro in BGR last Christmas because Airnow ran out of airplanes to crash.

You enjoyed your time there because you came out alive.

Airnow is the definition of part 134.5 flying.

Moxie, If you want 135 in the northeast go wiggins. There are some crusty old salts there that have forgotten more about flying than many of us will ever know.

[30West]

Originally Posted by OldTownPilot

Its apparent you never talked to the guy that lost his job over refusing to fly an illegal airplane. Thats all I have to say about management pushing pilots too far.

Ive seen the FAA inspectors do their Wiggins vs. AirNow inspections.

Ameriflight had a Metro in BGR last Christmas because Airnow ran out of airplanes to crash.

You enjoyed your time there because you came out alive.

Airnow is the definition of part 134.5 flying.

Moxie, If you want 135 in the northeast go wiggins. There are some crusty old salts there that have forgotten more about flying than many of us will ever know.

As far as that guy getting fired I heard that they had been looking for a reason to let him go for a while..but, that is all hearsay and i dont know exactly what happened in that situation. But Im sure you know because you are management or the pilot that got fired and you were there and know all the details

"Ameriflight had a Metro in BGR last Christmas because Airnow ran out of airplanes to crash."

Who the hell says something f$%#ed up like that? First of all AMF did not loose an airplane in December, especially on the east coast. There has only been one AMF Metro crash in history and it was in WA like 4 years ago. Im a former AMF pilot beleive me I KNOW.

Im not the only one that got out of AirNow alive, and definately not the only one that had a good experience there. Like I said to the original poster, there are some people just not cut out for it, some people need someone to hold their hand and tell them what to do so they dont have to make their own decisions.

Im sure Wiggins would be a great place to go to, but maybe you would want to ask their ex cheif pilot why left to go work for AirNow??

For the most part 135 freight ops are pretty much the same, but by the looks of the 172 in your avitar Im sure you know all about that dont ya Ace?

[SIUav8er]

Originally Posted by 30West

For the most part 135 freight ops are pretty much the same, but by the looks of the 172 in your avitar Im sure you know all about that dont ya Ace?

lol!!

[DE727UPS]

"There has only been one AMF Metro crash in history and it was in WA like 4 years ago."

It was in Spokane, WA. As I type this, I can see where the crash site was, about five miles away.

[mtsu_av8er]

I had a guy from in Indoc with me here at Skyeast, and he absolutely loved it.

I've got another guy from AMF that would rather wrestle naked with cobras in a pool of fire ants that fly another minute at AMF.

Everybody's different.

Spend a couple months dodging storms and fighting ice, and you'll realize that it's all the same. Either you can hack or you can't hack.

[KLB]

Originally Posted by mtsu_av8er

I've got another guy from AMF that would rather wrestle naked with cobras in a pool of fire ants that fly another minute at AMF.

Everybody's different.

Because I'm really digging AMF. It can be frustrating at times, but thats at any gig.