An update on the future....in the year 3000 as Conan would perform

[bgaviator]

I am at a major, though not one of the legacy airlines. I definitely did not benefit from the way things "use[d] to be", in fact I started my airline career less then 2 years before 9/11 when the industry bubble was just bursting.

We all know that making the big career move is all about being the right guy/girl in the right place at the right time. That takes a little luck, a good work ethic, some networking and usually a lot of patience. When someone has a long list of 9-month dispatch gigs on their resume and is vocally negative about the profession, they show none of those traits and a hiring manager will have zero interest in investing in that person. I would be very skeptical of the opinion of someone who fits that profile.

Another key is networking and I'm not talking about this site. Join the ADF, go to the meetings and meet people. Make friends from other airlines and visit their operations. Sign up for LinkedIn. Openings that don't make it to the web boards are filled by networking. Maybe you have a supervisor or manager or director or even a buddy who goes to Southwest. A few months later, they need to hire someone.... he/she thinks of the best dispatcher they had at airline X. Hope that was you!

And as far as the Delta/Northwest merger and people not moving to ATL. I think not. Mergers never create jobs. The whole point is "synergy" and as someone who isn't a VP whenever you see that word, people are losing jobs.

That's a good perspective, and good advice too! Thanks.

 

[SKC]

In regards to SWA...

I was hired in March 08 which was the first time in 17 years they had hired externally for dispatchers. The 10 (4 int./6 ext) in my class spent around 6 months as assts before upgrade. The next class that started late in 08 (I think) had 6 or 7 that have mostly if not all upgraded by now. There are currently ~3 assistants that won't be able to upgrade until expansion resumes (I assume).

In my class I believe the minimum experience of the externals were 5 years with the average around 7.5-8 years. Most had supervisory experience with a couple having training on their resume.

I know that for the past couple of classes there have been 100+ resumes (I'm guessing they conduct phone interviews for most resumes that meet the requirements), and typically 30+ people invited to DAL for in-person interviews.