Commuting...

[WalterSobchak]

Just wondering how many of you have commuters in your office. SGU is damn near uncommutable, but I'm curious as to how viable commuting is with some of the more commutable offices.

 

[propsarebest]

Getting to/from SGU is damn near impossible. That was one of the reasons I left...

Now i drive 25 miles each way to where I work.

 

[dispatchguy]

Commuting SUCKS!

 

[WalterSobchak]

I guess I should clarify...I'm trying to get some sort of rough estimate of how many dispatchers actually commute.

 

[dispatchguy]

There are a few at DL that commute;

 

[onewithwings]

We had a dispatcher that commuted from SEA. Guess the commute got to him, he died in December of 2002. The ONLY bid he could work and commute was graveyard. No pun intended!

 

[dispatchguy]

My wife has made noise of relocating to Florida now and then, the SW SRQ/TPA area, Lakewood Ranch specifically. I told her unless I can drive to an airline gig, commuting out of that part of Florida would be near next to impossible; and I wouldnt be interested....

I remember when I was at UAL, we had more pilots living in the MCO area than any other area of the country.

 

[propsarebest]

We had a dispatcher that commuted from SEA. Guess the commute got to him, he died in December of 2002. The ONLY bid he could work and commute was graveyard. No pun intended!

Was that S.K.??

RIP

 

[onewithwings]

Was that S.K.??

RIP

Yes it was...we miss his morning sermons!

He was an ordained Lutheran minister. Every morning when we walked in the door, he would drop what he was doing stand up and pass out a paper filled with scriptures, and messages of enlightenment!

He was funny because when the flight crews would ask "WHY" he had them doing something out of the ordinary (i.e. non-standard route). He would reply with authority, "Because I'm the dispatcher"!!

 

[dispatchguy]

Yes it was...we miss his morning sermons!

He was an ordained Lutheran minister. Every morning when we walked in the door, he would drop what he was doing stand up and pass out a paper filled with scriptures, and messages of enlightenment!

And I probably wouldve thrown them back in his face, or torn it up in his face.

Shalom...

 

[onewithwings]

And I probably wouldve thrown them back in his face, or torn it up in his face.

Shalom...

We humored him. We knew he meant no disrespect...Just his way of trying to make our day better. He was a good guy, a hard worker and missed in this office.

 

[shooter]

I don't understand why anyone would want to commute for a dispatch gig. It is not like the schedules are like flying lines and the pay is anything but. If I were to going to commute I would be flying, not dispatching. But I do drive 2.5 - 3 hours each day at my current job. I guess that is about my limit so I can be home and not in a hotel room, which is why I got into dispatching in the first place. Interesting to hear what others in the industry do (or willing to do) each day.

onewithwings; If I can pry, what did he die from and how old was he? Was it health issues or accident? The reason I ask is because you said he worked the graveyard shift and the health risk with those hours interest me.

 

[onewithwings]

If I can pry, what did he die from and how old was he? Was it health issues or accident? The reason I ask is because you said he worked the graveyard shift and the health risk with those hours interest me.

He was in his 40's. He was at home recovering from major surgery related to cancer. The Dr's had even told him he would be able to return to work but instead took a turn for the worse.

I have no doubt working the hours he was required to work contributed to his early demise. However he never called in sick and would push himself beyond limits at home running the kids around, his social work, etc.

If you are intersted in more detail about aviation work related studies, I recommend: Aircrewhealth.com Dr. Sullivan is a research psychologist and personal friend who is a industry leading wealth of knowledge regarding aviation job related fatigue,stress and health issues...and I believe she is on FI too. You can also follow her in "Twitter" @AircrewBuzz

OWW

 

[shooter]

He was in his 40's. He was at home recovering from major surgery related to cancer. The Dr's had even told him he would be able to return to work but instead took a turn for the worse.

I have no doubt working the hours he was required to work contributed to his early demise. However he never called in sick and would push himself beyond limits at home running the kids around, his social work, etc.

If you are intersted in more detail about aviation work related studies, I recommend: Aircrewhealth.com Dr. Sullivan is a research psychologist and personal friend who is a industry leading wealth of knowledge regarding aviation job related fatigue,stress and health issues...and I believe she is on FI too. You can also follow her in "Twitter" @AircrewBuzz

OWW

I forgot to thank you for the information. Thank you

I am convinced night shift kills you. Lets see how long it takes me to find a day job out of aviation. On my mark...get set...

 

[Pull To Guns]

I am convinced night shift kills you. Lets see how long it takes me to find a day job out of aviation. On my mark...get set...

My workweek consists of two 7AM to 7PM day shifts followed by two 7PM to 7AM overnight shifts. Every week my body has to adjust to this and it takes 2 days to recover from this then do it all over again next week. Sleeping and eating schedules always in turmoil. I don't think this is sustainable for long without serious health consequences. The entire NOC follows this schedule which makes for an office with chronically exhausted people.

 

[shooter]

My workweek consists of two 7AM to 7PM day shifts followed by two 7PM to 7AM overnight shifts. Every week my body has to adjust to this and it takes 2 days to recover from this then do it all over again next week. Sleeping and eating schedules always in turmoil. I don't think this is sustainable for long without serious health consequences. The entire NOC follows this schedule which makes for an office with chronically exhausted people.

Out of curiosity, how many in your office have lost their gall bladders? We have had over one dozen people lose their gall bladders here and only a few of them were due to gall stones. The rest of us...the organ just died. It took the doctors 6 months of hard hospital testing to find it in me because I did not follow the 4-F's of gall bladder patients, not one (Forty, Fat, Fertile and Female). Just that horrible pain right under my lower right rib that would come and go until it just stayed. Mis-diagnosed for a couple years....it sucked! I don't know if it is our environment, work schedule or what. There were smokers, non-smokers, men, women, heavy, thin, diet conscious, eat anything...quite baffling and highly unusual for so many in one office. The only one thing in common is work location.

 

[dispatchguy]

Just that horrible pain right under my lower right rib that would come and go until it just stayed.

I've had that before - a few seconds long throb, hurts like an SOB, then everything is back to ops normal, same place....

Out of the biz now, cant think of any episodes for a while at least...

 

[Pull To Guns]

Out of curiosity, how many in your office have lost their gall bladders? We have had over one dozen people lose their gall bladders here and only a few of them were due to gall stones. The rest of us...the organ just died. It took the doctors 6 months of hard hospital testing to find it in me because I did not follow the 4-F's of gall bladder patients, not one (Forty, Fat, Fertile and Female). Just that horrible pain right under my lower right rib that would come and go until it just stayed. Mis-diagnosed for a couple years....it sucked! I don't know if it is our environment, work schedule or what. There were smokers, non-smokers, men, women, heavy, thin, diet conscious, eat anything...quite baffling and highly unusual for so many in one office. The only one thing in common is work location.

Sounds like location to me. In 10 1/2 years of working in dispatch offices, I never knew anyone to have gall bladder problems.

What I worry about is how many years my crazy schedule is taking off my life expectancy. Plus, an NOC filled with chronically exhausted employees is not compatable with safety-sensitive job functions. It doesn't make sense to me.

 

[bcp7]

That two days two nights two days off is a common European shift pattern. I think it would make more sense to work four shifts the same so you have regular sleep and waking hours and then rotate every two or three months for fairness so the same people are not always stuck on nights.

 

[shooter]

Sounds like location to me. In 10 1/2 years of working in dispatch offices, I never knew anyone to have gall bladder problems.

What I worry about is how many years my crazy schedule is taking off my life expectancy. Plus, an NOC filled with chronically exhausted employees is not compatable with safety-sensitive job functions. It doesn't make sense to me.

The last study I had read said night shift takes 10 years off your life. I don't remember if it had any statistics on health problems or if those heath problems related to the deaths. One thing is for sure and it is very very hard to explain this to someone that does not work graveyard hours and have them understand exactly what you mean. If you get sick and feel 75% better you can go to work and make it through the day. If you work night shift, you can be 75% better and no way feel you will be able to make it through the night.