Question for ASA dispatchers

[homerjdispatch]

I was also at ASA that great night that we got handed our ass by Delta. ASA had no plan for de-icing and Delta kept both pads. ASA waited WAY to long to cancel anything that night, as usual ASA was behind the eight ball. The only thing that we can hope for at ASA is that Brad saw what we in flight control have been saying all along , that dispatch is not to blame for the crap that goes on.

Dispatch not to blame? Who the hell cancels flights don there? If you all waited to long to cancel flights, I guess you are partly to blame, right?

Unless you cant cancel without approval from higher ups...If thats the case, that is messed up! (but we are talking about ASA)

 

[XPOO]

Now...ASA...imagine dispatching ATL, ORD, MKE, MCI, DEN, SLC, LAX, SFO, PDX and SEA. Odds are, those kind of weather situations happen on a DAILY basis, threefold.

 

[ASA DX]

Dispatch not to blame? Who the hell cancels flights don there? If you all waited to long to cancel flights, I guess you are partly to blame, right?

Unless you cant cancel without approval from higher ups...If thats the case, that is messed up! (but we are talking about ASA)

no i dont think i am to blame, and yes you have to right to cx, but you still get the run around from your pro-company sectors managers on operating the flight..i am not a higher up that is paid to thin out the schedule when wx impacts ATL. Those calls come from mother delta. i just dispatch whats on my desk, and as far as the wx was concerned in ATL that day is was nothing compared to any other city we go to..it was just the ATL airport in general. it was like a monkey trying to #$%@ a football in better terms. Airtran had their stuff together that night, 2 or 3 de-ice pads working, they were taxiing right by us while we waiting in line to share our 1 pad with mother Delta. it was horrible, mutinty on a/c, ppl having anxiety attacks, f/a saying pax were getting uncontrollable....i think our winner for taxi times that night was 4 hrs and 13 minutes. and remember that doesnt include their flight time.

 

[ASA DX]

Now...ASA...imagine dispatching ATL, ORD, MKE, MCI, DEN, SLC, LAX, SFO, PDX and SEA. Odds are, those kind of weather situations happen on a DAILY basis, threefold.

i would take that..imagine all your a/c stuck in one city..and that city is your hub and it houses your flight control freq. that is shared by mtc, flight control, and crew scheduling. i swear the dispatch radio or the phone did not get quiet all night long..everyone and i mean everyone called in 30x...multiply that by the number of flights on my desk...say 55. And that's how many radio calls i fielded just from the wx in ATL in 10 hours. And there were 12 other dxers on the floor going threw the same thing. at least if my operation was spread out like that i could only get that kind of treatment from a/c stuck in 1 of those cities.....haha

 

[homerjdispatch]

no i dont think i am to blame, and yes you have to right to cx, but you still get the run around from your pro-company sectors managers on operating the flight..i am not a higher up that is paid to thin out the schedule when wx impacts ATL. Those calls come from mother delta. i just dispatch whats on my desk, and as far as the wx was concerned in ATL that day is was nothing compared to any other city we go to..it was just the ATL airport in general. it was like a monkey trying to #$%@ a football in better terms. Airtran had their stuff together that night, 2 or 3 de-ice pads working, they were taxiing right by us while we waiting in line to share our 1 pad with mother Delta. it was horrible, mutinty on a/c, ppl having anxiety attacks, f/a saying pax were getting uncontrollable....i think our winner for taxi times that night was 4 hrs and 13 minutes. and remember that doesnt include their flight time.

Mother Delta calling the shots? I am pretty sure SkyWest inc is your new Mama! Maybe ASA better quit listening to big D and operate like thier step brother SkyWest. Here we take control of OUR operations and do what needs to be done.

Remember, Delta may want to call the shots, but they gave that up when they sold you for pennies on the dollar to SkyWest.

 

[ASA DX]

Mother Delta calling the shots? I am pretty sure SkyWest inc is your new Mama! Maybe ASA better quit listening to big D and operate like thier step brother SkyWest. Here we take control of OUR operations and do what needs to be done.

Remember, Delta may want to call the shots, but they gave that up when they sold you for pennies on the dollar to SkyWest.

Flying delta routes my friend..connecting their pax from ATL to other cities. They have more pull here the Skywest buddy. Yall just got your front office help here anyway. We will see how much the operation changes, my guess...it will be the same result. You cant compare SLC and ATL when it comes to ramp congestion. Just sit out there in SLC with your pro-company blinders on and keep telling yourself that you work for the best company in the business. If your two week notice hit the desk at Skywest, they would watch you walk away just like anyone else.

 

[homerjdispatch]

Nevermind not worth the reply....

 

[propsarebest]

What about mother United?? How many times has OO rolled over for UA??

 

[clr4theapch]

Homer, good to see you share your sarcastic higher than mighty attitude with others.. "how is the weather where you live" homer.. geezzz you are an idiot....

 

[ASA DX]

Nevermind not worth the reply....

hey can you tell my new momma that i want some more lunch money, some ramp agents that speak english, some equipment that works, and some space to put my new toys...haha

 

[homerjdispatch]

hey can you tell my new momma that i want some more lunch money, some ramp agents that speak english, some equipment that works, and some space to put my new toys...haha

Dont we all. Sorry didnt mean to come off like a jackass. I know we all do the best with what we have. Hope Brad H is treating you all good down there! We were glad to share him. Always a friend to dispatch. ( sarcasm heavy in that last line)

 

[ASA DX]

Dont we all. Sorry didnt mean to come off like a jackass. I know we all do the best with what we have. Hope Brad H is treating you all good down there! We were glad to share him. Always a friend to dispatch. ( sarcasm heavy in that last line)

yeah i get you..its builds sometimes. he was here that fine weds night during the ice storm when the OCC was getting hammered. he had a cell phone in one ear, and notepad in his hand so hopefully he saw what we go through on this end. maybe he took some good notes and can share a little of that Skywest money to get us what we need....(sarcasm for me was extra heavy in that last line as well.....)

 

[XPOO]

Oh no, ATL is a killer. It's not like OO is the largest regional operator in ORD. With the amount of flights that ASA cancels out of ATL, ORD is about to take the top spot as Nation's Busiest Airport. Boasting aside, there should be people in dispatch looking at future operations and planning for it. I guess when DEN shut down for TWO days last year that will still never compare to your one night of nasty snow in ATL.

 

[ASA DX]

Oh no, ATL is a killer. It's not like OO is the largest regional operator in ORD. With the amount of flights that ASA cancels out of ATL, ORD is about to take the top spot as Nation's Busiest Airport. Boasting aside, there should be people in dispatch looking at future operations and planning for it. I guess when DEN shut down for TWO days last year that will still never compare to your one night of nasty snow in ATL.

ATL airport actully went into a full all out GS for "traffic on the ground" that night...i think i have only seen it a couple of times. Planes just kept landing and noone was taking off. We ran out of gate space everywhere..all the taxiways were full. We actually could not fit any more planes on the ground here b/c of the de-ice problems we had. Planes diverting right and left. Crews would call in and we were expecting them to go into holding to start..then ATC would just instruct then to go immediately to their filed alternate b/c they had no chance of landing here at all. We ran out of space.

 

[WalterSobchak]

Airtran had their stuff together that night...

Based on my days working in CS/Ramp there...those are words I thought I never see together. Glad they seem to have figured things out.

Ya know..in the spirit of the dispatcher brotherhood and in attempt of finding some "best practices"... perhaps a few of us should visit ASA OCC and some of you ASA guys could come out to SGU for a shift or two and see if we can learn anything from each other. And, if nothing else, its good excuse to get a beer with some fellow 'spatchers. Just a thought.