Dear Dispatcher

[Some Dude]

On a positive note that I'm sure we can agree on. The company sent out new info about a new program you all will be using that is supposed to be a big improvement on your dispatching. The company said it will compute alot more info on performance for our aircraft. Also, they said that dispatchers will be assigned to one aircraft type only. Any thougthts or info? Also, are they going to hire more? I always thought you guys and gals were understaffed. Let's discuss something positive for a change.

 

[Hogprint]

I agree. If we can pull this off, it will make everyones life easier. Concur on the positive discussions also.

 

[Diesel]

We need to do three things-

1. Hire more dispatchers.
2. Make them fleet specific
3. End the "file and forget" rush rush rush by using step 1 and 2.
4. Make it a real joint release. Your certificate plus mine is on the line.
5. Use better software. No more of this jumping through 3 different programs to make a release.


It's a thankless job that is dealing with an environment that is constantly changing.

 

[Some guy]

I think with the tremendous growth that we had a couple of years ago along with the increase in growth this year, the company really is trying to streamline alot of different processes to make things easier on everyone.

Apparently, with the current demand on the dispatchers, there is the occasional mistake being made and maybe this new process will help. We all make our mistakes, but honestly, those of us sitting in "the casino" really do try our best to help you guys out in the field. Those who don't, don't stick around here very long.

Some Guy

 

[Some Dude]

The people in the casino didn't have the best tools to use. It's not that they were stupid, they often couldn't get the info they needed. Intellijunk was the real problem not the workers. I don't fault the workers just the tools they had to work with.

 

[Some guy]

Some dude,
I'm just hoping that when things are made right, we all become one happy family again. This really is a great company even though we have our small issues / problems. Any company that grows as fast as we have will have their problems. As far as the negotiations, both sides are playing hardball as they should be...You can't expect anything else from either side. I'm ignorant (lack of knowledge) when it comes to everything you guys are fighting for. I think that the majority of us do believe the pay situation needs major attention.

With that said, I've seen some other posts stating different rumors and such. I can tell you that the rumor about certain pilots / crews getting the "good" trips is not true. The schedulers build the flight plans based on many things such as location of the aircraft, requests to go from point A to point B, crew duty time, and other variables. As far as names, they are just names. The schedulers do not have the time to hand pick any specific names. I know that for a fact as I have been working with them for almost 5 years now.

Some Guy

 

[FLYLOW22]

Sounds cool for the high, hot n heavies.

 

[dsptchrnja]

On a positive note that I'm sure we can agree on. The company sent out new info about a new program you all will be using that is supposed to be a big improvement on your dispatching. The company said it will compute alot more info on performance for our aircraft. Also, they said that dispatchers will be assigned to one aircraft type only. Any thougthts or info? Also, are they going to hire more? I always thought you guys and gals were understaffed. Let's discuss something positive for a change.

The whiz-snappers at Ultra-Nav recently came out with "true flight" which can predict 2nd segment climb with almost any imaginable scenario. The DO just bought us 13 versions for every type of a/c we are flying so we can start providing this to NJA pilots. You will get an additional sheet that has an easy-to-read graph of your climb profile - and not sure what else - none of the dispatchers have had a chance to look at it yet. It will arrive Aug 15th and will probably take a couple weeks (?) or more to train the dxr's and standardize the program for our use.

We are staffed with higher numbers than ever right now actually, but unfortunately, the workload has never been higher either. But, 3 dispatchers are in training and rumor has it more could be on the way. We currently have 40 dispatchers.

We will need at least 10 more dispatchers before we can go fleet specific. This has also been a goal of dispatch for years. It is becoming VERY difficult to be held responsible for dispatching 10+ different types of aircraft with all the nuances involved for each manufacturer. As pilots know, they are better and safer flying one a/c type than 3 or 4 types. Same with dispatching. That's how professional 121 ops go and that's what we want as well.

I figure if the DO can get over $200,000 of new software approved in a couple days he should be able to increase our staffing so we can go fleet specific. As you know he's only been here about 14 months and is just now getting around to addressing some of our issues that have been ignored by past management. I guess he's been a little distracted by other company matters recently.

Most Ops management was not even aware that dispatch is a day-of only resource... we can't gaurantee to catch any potential flight issue before 4 hours of departure. Have you ever been sitting at the hotel wondering about your flight tomorrow and figuring someone had probably already looked at the potential performance issues? There is no gaurantee of this. Today, there is only a relatively loose process of catching tomorrow's problematic flights (automatic feasability checks and the Ops Intel dept are all we have now). But it has become the DO's most recent agenda and they are in current discussions to figure out how we can more reliably plan for tomorrow's flights so owners can get more notice of potential show-stoppers. We simply want to reduce the number of "fire drills" (as GH puts it) we do every day when we suddenly find out a trip doesn't work because DAAP failed or suddenly it's too hot to get out of JAC, etc.

If your interested more info was brought up here that I didn't take the time to talk about again in this post.
http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?p=645353#post645353

Thanks for asking.

 

[x402]

One of the best posts I've seen on this board. Mgt hasn't killed all the dreamers. We really understand the frustration with mgt, and we know it is system wide. x

 

[Some Dude]

I will say that we don't always agree. Heck my friends and I always argue about sports. I will say that you guys are overloaded. I will also say that I recently got some service from you department that was above and beyond the standard. A messed up day was saved by a quick and professional dispatcher that helped us depart on time with an owner who had gotten screwed over all day.