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Continental looking for 4 Dispatchers?

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Do you think they would hire an ex CAL pilot with a new dispatch cert and no dispatch experience?
 
I interviewed there once....I really can't say I cared for the looks and feel of the city of Houston....even the native Houstonians I talked to at Continental confirmed it's a hell hole. I didn't see any decent places to live without having an extremely long commute. But the real bum thing in my opinion is the no health benefits for 6 months.....that's just wrong. I know with me having a new baby, there is no way I could consider Continental right now for that very reason.

Pull To Guns said:
Ask anyone who has ever had to live in Houston....they could give you plenty of reasons.
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Pull To Guns said:
Nope. You will have to start with a regional at $12/hour like the rest of us did. Sorry.
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Very delightful post. I walk in to HQ today (8 blocks from my house)and talked to the manager of SOC and and HR manager. They seemed responsive. Will hear a bit more by end of week. $36,000 a year seems a bit low, no?

By they way, it seems a little humility goes a long way. As one of the 147 CAL employees laid off out of of 43,000, they seem to understand times are rough, and may be willing to help out a fellow CAL employee. (former)

Start at regional? At a previous company, they would pull people off ramp operations, help pay for some DX school, and presto.... a new dispatcher. I think with the right personality, a major could mold a former pilot who is typed and experienced in 3 of the 4 aircraft they operate.

Enough said about that, anyone know of a good accelerated dispatch school? I think there is one in TX.
 
jetpig32 said:
Very delightful post. I walk in to HQ today (8 blocks from my house)and talked to the manager of SOC and and HR manager. They seemed responsive. Will hear a bit more by end of week. $36,000 a year seems a bit low, no?

By they way, it seems a little humility goes a long way. As one of the 147 CAL employees laid off out of of 43,000, they seem to understand times are rough, and may be willing to help out a fellow CAL employee. (former)

Start at regional? At a previous company, they would pull people off ramp operations, help pay for some DX school, and presto.... a new dispatcher. I think with the right personality, a major could mold a former pilot who is typed and experienced in 3 of the 4 aircraft they operate.

Enough said about that, anyone know of a good accelerated dispatch school? I think there is one in TX.
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Airline Ground Schools in Florence, KY has a week long accelerated program.
 
jetpig32 said:
Very delightful post. I walk in to HQ today (8 blocks from my house)and talked to the manager of SOC and and HR manager. They seemed responsive. Will hear a bit more by end of week. $36,000 a year seems a bit low, no?

By they way, it seems a little humility goes a long way. As one of the 147 CAL employees laid off out of of 43,000, they seem to understand times are rough, and may be willing to help out a fellow CAL employee. (former)

Start at regional? At a previous company, they would pull people off ramp operations, help pay for some DX school, and presto.... a new dispatcher. I think with the right personality, a major could mold a former pilot who is typed and experienced in 3 of the 4 aircraft they operate.

Enough said about that, anyone know of a good accelerated dispatch school? I think there is one in TX.
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There is AFDTC in the DFW area. www.airlinedispatcher.com I did a one week course there in the mid-90's. Cheap and to the point. You have to pass the Dispatcher (ATP) written prior to going to class.
For an experienced pilot I'd suggest looking over Part 65. You really don't need to spend money on a school unless it is needed for test prep. Someone at CAL Dispatch might know a designated examiner that could just give you the checkride once you knock out the written. If in Houston, San Jacinto College has a dispatcher course. Not sure if it's accelerated though.
My opinion...cheaper/quicker=better when it comes to dispatch schools. I'm sure that will annoy some folks who went to "Ivy League" dispatch schools :D.
Hopefully, $36K is for an assistant dispatcher which is temporary in nature. At least cost of living in TX isn't too bad, and it sounds like you could walk to work most days. Dispatch at a major is a good gig. Good luck with it.
 
Why is Continental looking for 4 dispatchers?

According to a friend of mine who is a CAL dispatcher, several dispatchers quit to follow the $$$$ to the oil companies (non-aviation jobs). They have been working short for a while, but apparently they've decided to fill the positions.

I would consider applying, but I've been out of the profession for a few years, and I'm sure there will be lots of applicants with more current experience. I also don't have any desire to move my family to Houston....especially for a starting pay of $36K, and a max pay of about $65K after 15 years (so my friend says).
 
airbrush said:
According to a friend of mine who is a CAL dispatcher, several dispatchers quit to follow the $$$$ to the oil companies (non-aviation jobs). They have been working short for a while, but apparently they've decided to fill the positions.

I would consider applying, but I've been out of the profession for a few years, and I'm sure there will be lots of applicants with more current experience. I also don't have any desire to move my family to Houston....especially for a starting pay of $36K, and a max pay of about $65K after 15 years (so my friend says).
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When I interviewed, I too was told by some of the dispatchers that they were losing a lot of people to the oil companies. Supposedly they would come back from their interviews with the oil companies with big gift baskets full of nice stuff. May not be a bad way to go....if you can't beat em, join em.
 
I applied, and got a rec from my old boss out at AirMike. Don't know that I would take it, but keeping options open.
There was some mention of layoffs at the recent employee meeting for my present employer, and I was the last one hired.
 
Pull To Guns said:
Nope. You will have to start with a regional at $12/hour like the rest of us did. Sorry.
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Good post! Dispatch is Dispatch, piloting is piloting. The only fair way is to start like everyone else has. It also makes it fair for us dispatchers who are good at what we do and do not deserve to be turned down because someone else was able to get a pilots license to begin with.
 
Air Mike is Continental Micronesia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental Airlines. Dispatchers there are not in the TWU.
 
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

The guy has an opportunity. I say go for it. He's got an advantage that others might not. Good for him if it works out.

Get the certificate, and for as little as possible... it doesn't matter where you went to get it.

Good luck with the furlough in the mean time...

-271FE
 
UPS starts just under 60k, and it is about 75K after 5 years, and that is probably the best contract going. I heard a few years ago on the yahoo dx forum that FedEx had matched the UPS contract

First year dx pay for United, Southwest and US is between 45-47K. for DL about 49K. NW pays about the same as CO, so their guys are drooling at the DL scale.

So, yes there is a lot of room for improvement. Contract negotiations have either started or should start soon as the contract is amendable this year or early 2009.
 
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Dispatch pay

A friend who has been at United for about 15 years used to make 6 figures, and can still do it if he works at it. I know dispatchers at other mainline carriers used to be able to make that if they worked overtime. However, I think that, long term, that may be going the same way as the widebody captains pulling down $300K flying 10 days a month.
 
Dispatch pay

A friend who has been at United for about 15 years used to make 6 figures, and can still do it if he works at it. I know dispatchers at other mainline carriers used to be able to make that if they worked overtime. However, I think that, long term, that may be going the same way as the widebody captains pulling down $300K flying 10 days a month.
 

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