ASA DX contract?

[shamrock]

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.

I'd be happy to support everyone in dispatch if you're having trouble, that's why I asked if there might have been a a story behind the experience I had.

On the bright side, I really didn't appreciate what an asset a good dispatcher can be until I didn't have access to one so I guess I learned something from this.

 

[fltdspx]

even though ASA is at full staffing levels there are two dispatchers that have just been selected as new sector managers and one more is leaving SOON to join the pilot ranks.. so we are back on the way down if the company doesn't stay on the ball. If the past is any indication we will be behind the eight ball for the rest of the year.
I agree with everyone.. on one hand the dispatchers can get overwhelmed especially if your new but never should a dispatcher not be there for there crew especially once the wheels are up. The pay at any connection regional airlines is definitely no what it should be with the responsibility we have. I agree that's why the good and experience Dispatchers are leaving. The computer system is set up for a 10 and CLR day with no delays and we all no that is not the case day in and day out. Why companies what to only staff for a perfect day is beyond me. I wander what it will take to wake up companies like ASA and SkyWest and others out there that just because we are a small group compared to the pilot group we can make a BIG impact on the operation in one day. I mean what would happen to one day of FLTS if 3/4 of dispatchers called out sick. ASA and SkyWest both are making fist full of dollars and it wouldn't hurt them to pay the dispatchers more.

 

[RJAA]

I'd be happy to support everyone in dispatch if you're having trouble, that's why I asked if there might have been a a story behind the experience I had.

On the bright side, I really didn't appreciate what an asset a good dispatcher can be until I didn't have access to one so I guess I learned something from this.

Staffing issue is nothing new and not exactly unique to ASA. The airlines do not build desks based on bad weather days so we should just accept that. On same bad days, any experienced dispatchers could fall behind. It could happen to anyone. Just need to prioritize, and some things will just be late.

So, the problem I saw at a place like ASA was a lack of a chief dispatcher position that supports the entire floor. This is someone who is on the dispatcher's side who manages and supervises everyone's workload, problem flights, provide technical help if needed, maintain the acceptable level of standard by providing guidance where it's required, especially to whom are new at the job. At ASA, the union tossed the idea around a few years ago, but the management said it could not be justified. They didn't care as long as the dispatchers are tap tap sending. And, you have these little sector managers who are just mid level management puppets who shuffles flights all days long and kind of sneak in a few more flights here and there to random dispatchers based on need (not workload), including maintenance ferries (sometimes very time consuming), position flights, charters and burn the dispatchers with write ups and logs if problems occur. And there was also a duty manager who did absolutely nothing all day but walk around with his coffee cup and think about how "not" to cover a sick call and save money by shutting a desk down and dump them all on other open desks because he thought it was managable. It just wasn't a good culture. The moral was down.

Thank God now I work at a place where my co-workers actually steps up to take flights off my desk and if I am running into problems, I can tell the chief about it and he or she will take the responsiblity to reassign flights to mitigate delays before I drown and I start making mistakes because of the pressure. Every sick call is covered with overtime. If one of our hubs is forecasted to go down. An extra desk opens. NOT at ASA.

I welcome shamrock's comments and I am sorry to hear about his/her dispatcher's lack of interest in supporting his flight but the dispatchers come from different backgrounds, shapes and forms. Some are more involved, some do care, and some are more detailed than others, and some just aren't interested. They like to put in minimum work and just tap tap send all day and browse on the internet. For them, the less phone calls, the better. Take a look at another angle, the pilots also do come in different shapes and forms, some do appreciate much dispatcher involvement, some just don't like to pick up the phone and take time to see if his/her dispatcher has anything to say. Some even has been burned before, so last thing they like to do is take the dispatcher's advise. Whatever the fuel amount the dispatcher releases a flight with, automatically add XXX amount, that sort of thing. So it's not easy to determine how all of that communication of joint responsibility should go.

 

[XPOO]

This is a tough situation to comment on, but the dispatcher also needs to be thoughtful enough to try and find a dispatcher that can help you if he/she was already overloaded to begin with. That's called teamwork. I'm not saying that's what happened in this case, but I do see it happen on almost a daily basis. Some people are just too prideful to ask another dispatcher to help them out.

 

[ASA DX]

Well i havent been to work at ASA in over 18 days, took some MIL leave. I have to get caught up on my bills here at the house and military pays more then my fake ASA job. Moral is in the gutter, new dx's on the floor that aren't even wet behind the ears yet. You have lost all your senior people to other companies b/c our pay sucks. Its just the same thing day in and day out. We haven't had a full pay raise since Feb. 2006 b/c our contract is still in limbo. Wait till our pissy contract gets signed and we lose even more ppl. I would be willing to bet that 80% of our dx's are sitting here waiting on this thing to get signed. And if it isnt what we expect, you will have half the office hitting the door. Thats the day I cant wait for..haha.

 

[fltdspx]

had to delete my post... just thinking about how ASA could give a rats a!#$ about the dispatch group gets not thinking to clear

 

[MaceyHold]

Funny you just edited that last post...my first thought to "how hard is that" is, how many folks answer their phone when caller ID says ASA and there's a line of thunderstorms cutting the east coast in half? I don't disagree with you, just wonder what'cha gonna do when nobody answers to get junior assigned?

 

[shamrock]

Wow, so you guys can get junior-manned too? I had no idea. Guess we're more alike than I thought.

 

[fltdspx]

Funny you just edited that last post...my first thought to "how hard is that" is, how many folks answer their phone when caller ID says ASA and there's a line of thunderstorms cutting the east coast in half? I don't disagree with you, just wonder what'cha gonna do when nobody answers to get junior assigned?

that's vey true not much you can do when no one wants the OT.. however...when we sit next to the managers and can see them not calling ...that's when I get pissy....and to answer the other reply... yes we can be jr assigned but no one will answer the call on that one....lol...
from what I hear now is that if all the ppl who were selected for the sector managers position take it then dispatch will be just about back to where we were last year and will have to cover off time ( vacation and holidays ) with OT.. I am here to tell ya I will take all I can get...mmm I wander what our new contract will look like...

 

[ASA DX]

Yeah but that is always your second phone call..first round is to ask for takers for OT..if they get no takers more then likely they just split the desk up. I have seen Jr. assignment maybe 3 different times ever, and I have never been Jr. assigned the whole time I have been there. Its easy, you either had a beer or guess what you are out of town....no biggee really. That's where out department is wrong in their thinking of "fixing" the problem when we get short-handed the way we do. Its basically half ass read your notams and wx and crank out the releases. If I physically wanted to read every little thing I needed to before pushing "send" i could get myself behind on a 10 CLR day..and thats what we need to do. Get behind..go in the red..take delays and put them on "yourself" b/c you are not fully staffed. I wish ppl would realize that and stop fixing the problem for them when we dont have the man-power. Because guess what if you make it work, then there is no reason for them as a company to raise the pay and fix the problem. They sit back and just laugh every time we as the dispatch group fix the problem..because they are saving money and we are doing twice as much work.

Wow, so you guys can get junior-manned too? I had no idea. Guess we're more alike than I thought.