ASA DX contract?

[shamrock]

So what is the situation with ASA dispatch and a new contract?

I guess I should be up on the status but I try to leave the airport stuff at the airport so I'm not sure. (Ahh, who am I kidding, I read and post on FI so that theory sure doesn't hold any water!) Anyway, I ask because recently I had a divert situation and my dispather was less than helpful with info regarding bingo fuel, alternate weather, etc. In fact DX was no help, all I could get was one word answers (OK, Roger) when I got an answer at all. I mentioned this to another Captain later and he told me that DX is shorthanded and fed up with the company and performance is suffering as a result. Just curious if that's the case.

Disclaimer: I AM NOT trying to turn this into a pilot/DX argument! I realize that we pilots are no angels and can make your jobs more difficult than need be at times. I'm just looking to find out if I just had an uninterested dispatcher or if there's a larger issue involved.

Thanks.

Flame on.

 

[XPOO]

ASA DX is shorthanded? HAH! That's laughable. But then again, ACARS is a wonderous tool.

 

[shamrock]

ASA DX is shorthanded? HAH! That's laughable. But then again, ACARS is a wonderous tool.

Like I said, I don't know what's going on there, I was just looking to find out if what the other Captain told me was accurate. And yes, ACARS certainly is wonderful, when it's working. Had ours been it would have saved me a lot of trouble.

 

[XPOO]

I guess what I was trying to say is, with ACARS a dispatcher can actually communicate with more than one flight at a time, especially if that person is monitoring 10+ flights at any one given time.

 

[WalterSobchak]

Last I traded emails with anyone over at ASA DX, that person indicated to me (and I may have read incorrectly) that they were finally at a decent staffing level.

I think what XPOO was saying, in his oh-so-lovable sarcastic way, is that pretty much all regional dispatch offices are running lean. And, more and more, it is becoming an issue of being overwhelmed with work when WX/ATC issues start to back everything up. And with function ACARS, it helps with the workload a little.

The average "workable-on-bad-day" workload at the regional level for one dispatcher is around 45-60 flights per shift. That's manageable over a 10 hour shift. However, the more and more short-staffed each office becomes, the more of a workload is being dropped on fewer dispatchers.

With the software we use, it's not incredibly hard to crank out 80+ releases in a shift...and on a severe clear day, that's manageable. The problems arise when you have 20 flights in the air and the weather is taking a crap at half of those destinations. Or worse, a random weather phenomena or air traffic initiative that was completely unpredicted. While I can't speak for our brethren over at ASA, I can say that the dispatch staffing issue is going to become a big problem in the near future.

First of all, it's not exactly a job most people even know exists. While the pay isn't horrible for those who were used to living on ramper wages, it still sucks considering the responsibility of the job. Good dispatchers are leaving in droves because of this...and leaving behind the people who are less than stellar at doing the job the way it should be done. With pride, care, and continued seeking of knowledge to do it better.

As far as your situation that day...it might have just been a tough day. Some days, all hell breaks loose...and when just about every aircraft in your entire operation touches ATL at least once per day...sometimes its hard to keep up. That dispatcher may have had 10 other flights holding and looking for solid alternates and burns, etc. That doesn't excuse the apathy and lack of urgency you recieved from your dispatcher...those little blips on the ASD are the most important thing in your world during your ten hours...but it might give a little insight into what that dispatcher was dealing with.

I say this with sincerity...if you haven't already, go visit the ASA Flight Control office. Even better, try to go on a day where the weather sucks in ATL. See what those guys are doing, talk to them, and see how you can help each other. Despite how closely our jobs are related, we are sometimes so far removed from what each other do, that we forget some of the individual challenges we face daily.

It is all too often forgotten on both sides that we, pilots and dispatchers, need to remember that we are in this together. Dispatch has the largest department size to responsibility ratio at any airline...and the smallest voice. We've always kinda taken pride in being the bastard step-children. But, something is gonna have to give in attracting good dispatchers to the profession.

 

[cksport]

ASA DX is currently at full staffing levels per the Company. However, unless we stay ahead of the bell-curve, we won't be there very long. As far as the contract negotiations are concerned, they are ongoing. I think it should be noted that when flights are holding in Atlanta, it is sometime difficult for each dispatcher to communicate effectively with their crews as the Company frequency gets overloaded because not all aircraft are ACARS equipped and not all of our crews use ACARS in this situation. In addition to the ACARS messaging and radio calls, we are constantly answering phone calls (i.e. DL Radio, gates, wx brief, etc). Our current ACARS interface is not user friendly, web-based, and functions at a speed remeniscent of dial-up. I hope this sheds some light to some other potential issues you could be dealing with.

 

[shamrock]

Got it. It would've been great if we'd been able to use the ACARS, maybe we would've had someone backing up our decision making.

"Dispatch, we're holding at XYZ, EFC 1500Z (it's 1420Z currently), 4800 on the fuel"
"OK"

10 minute later, after several more contact attempts,
"Dispatch, we just looked at our fuel again and we can't hold until 15Z"
"Roger"

5 minutes later: "Dispatch, we've been cleared out of the hold but I'm not comfortable with what we'll be landing at our alternate with if we shoot the approach and have to divert."
"OK"

"Well we're diverting."
"OK"

I realize that I'm ultimately responsible for the decision-making in the air but I scratch my head when when virtually every other flight talking to DX is being fed information on ATL wx, alternate wx, and bingo fuel and all we're getting is one word responses to our inquiries.

 

[shamrock]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I did spend a some time at DX when I was in upgrade and it was definitely interesting to see what goes on on the other end of the mic. Most every dispatcher I've dealt with in my admittedly short stint as a Captain has been very helpful, I was just a little bothered that when I could really use some info to back up my decision making it wasn't available.

 

[WalterSobchak]

"Dispatch, we're holding at XYZ, EFC 1500Z (it's 1420Z currently), 4800 on the fuel"
"OK"

10 minute later, after several more contact attempts,
"Dispatch, we just looked at our fuel again and we can't hold until 15Z"
"Roger"

5 minutes later: "Dispatch, we've been cleared out of the hold but I'm not comfortable with what we'll be landing at our alternate with if we shoot the approach and have to divert."
"OK"

"Well we're diverting."
"OK"

I realize that I'm ultimately responsible for the decision-making in the air but I scratch my head when when virtually every other flight talking to DX is being fed information on ATL wx, alternate wx, and bingo fuel and all we're getting is one word responses to our inquiries.

I believe any dispatcher would back me up in saying this is unacceptable.

Of course, you are ultimately responsible once the wheels are up...but you should never have to be alone in your decision making. We have a responsibility per the FARs to keep you advised and provide any and all pertinent information whenever possible to aid you in your decisions...and when someone is giving you one word answers, someone isn't doing their job...no matter how bogged down they may be.

That said, if the staffing level issues we are starting to see in many offices continue...we may have to call on a larger employee group to get behind us in making changes to our payscales and recruiting efforts. Union office or not, the backup of the people we serve everyday will go a long way in getting where we need to be in order to attract better quality into our dispatch offices and give better quality service to our pilots.

 

[ShutupandFly]

Got it. It would've been great if we'd been able to use the ACARS, maybe we would've had someone backing up our decision making.

"Dispatch, we're holding at XYZ, EFC 1500Z (it's 1420Z currently), 4800 on the fuel"
"OK"

10 minute later, after several more contact attempts,
"Dispatch, we just looked at our fuel again and we can't hold until 15Z"
"Roger"

5 minutes later: "Dispatch, we've been cleared out of the hold but I'm not comfortable with what we'll be landing at our alternate with if we shoot the approach and have to divert."
"OK"

"Well we're diverting."
"OK"

I realize that I'm ultimately responsible for the decision-making in the air but I scratch my head when when virtually every other flight talking to DX is being fed information on ATL wx, alternate wx, and bingo fuel and all we're getting is one word responses to our inquiries.

Messages like this should have been priority #1 (only behind a declared emergency). What I see in my office is alot of new dispatchers getting overwhelmed and starting to deal with problems in the order they get them instead of putting a priority on the problems they need to. This is not excusable IMHO but it doesn't change the fact that it happens. The best thing you can do in this situation is after you land, fill out a flight safety report. Get the problem up front and center. If the safety dept gets enough of these showing the same problem getting hold of a dispatcher they will have to take a look at dispatch work load, before the FAA does.

Fly Safe