Shocked at the state of Dispatcher Profession

[dispatchguy]

I actually had the dispatcher I relieved yesterday get mad at me, and go to the manager and complain, because right when I logged onto the computer, a destination city weather changed and now required an alternate, so I contacted the flight, and did this, and he felt I was trying to make him look bad

Truth must hurt then

 

[rod guhzhinya]

Sounds like someone I knew at one airline a few years back, before they made the move to big-bad Indy, whom had I had done his comp check, he wouldnt have passed it (hell, he'd probably still be trying to pass it); he only passed his CC from the D-SOC because we needed a warm body on the floor because of inadequate staffing; and thats all this individual is, is a big, warm body.

I mean, I remember one day when I asked him the question to something simple, like how to 3585, so he reaches for the office copy of the FOM; I grab his arm and asked him where his was (I knew his was in the back window of his car, where anyone could see it -including our POI who was on premises that day). I direct him to go get his, and he first stammers that he doesnt know, I splain that I saw his in the back seat of his car plainly in the back window; and that he better get it pronto.

Taking a desk over from this individual was like playing you bet your license; and on several occasions I refused to take a flight or two over until they landed for their releases weren't legal (bad alternates, no alternates, you get the picture).

A lot of it is, especially in the regional world, that real training is nonexistent. They get kids fresh out of school with a tempo ticket (and those kids barely know 121), who hardly know their ass from a hole in the ground, and couldnt dispatch on a VFR day to save their soul.

I put a lot of the failure onto the schools themselves, and the whole dispatch training methodologies; in what other FAA certificated position do you not do the job to get the certificate; a pilot goes and flies an airplane, I assume a mechanic goes and puts an engine together or something (I dont know for sure what a mech's practical is), a dispatcher chases a manual flight plan through such a cumbersome process that if an airline did it that way, nothing would ever leave the ground. There is no "practical application" of what dispatching really means; and that doing the tap-tap-send stuff is the easy part.

Dispatcher certification is so unreal and un-real-world that, combined with the lackadaisical training in the regional world (at least most, but not all) is the perfect storm; low certification standards combined with a low comp check standard (breathing, good, you pass), and with crap pay means you get what you pay for.

I take pride in any release with my name on it, but I must be in the minority.

Very well said!!!

 

[Bart Simpson]

It is all about work ethics as well. The 'new' guys do not understand that working as a dispatcher is not a job but a safety issue.

Showing up two - three minutes late is not good work ethics.
Sleeping is not good work ethics.
Having headphones on is not good work ethics.
Trying to find the end of the internet is not good work ethics.

There is a time and place for everything but when you're sitting at your desk, priorities 1 thru 23 should be safely dispatching and fligth following your flights.

The best is when dispatchers get called out on a mistake, they promise you to never do the same mistake and two weeks later, same mistake.

 

[RJAA]

Ipod is great because I can tune out some dispatchers I can't stand sitting near me.
Sometimes the half of the floor is listning to music on Ipod at my company. It's quiet and everybody is minding their own business. It's quite nice. My phone has a red blinkers for me to see that it's ringing but I have gone three shifts without getting a call from anyone just recently. If anyone wants my attention they can send me a queue message. How is that a bad work ethics?

 

[dispatchguy]

Hey - as long as it works, and you arent neglecting your dispatch duties, I dont have a problem with it. While at a regional that might not work, but at a major, I can see where that would very easily work. I would love nothing more than to have an Ipod filled with some RUSH Bootlegs and jam away while blasting releases

 

[405]

I wonder if UPS and FedEx allow iPods on the dispatch floor?

 

[homerjdispatch]

I wonder if UPS and FedEx allow iPods on the dispatch floor?

SkyWest doesn't! Although many test this rule, along with the no shorts rule.

 

[10nCLR]

Hey Homer, can you guys where t-shirts on the weekend?

 

[405]

I wonder if UPS and FedEx allow iPods on the dispatch floor?

I'll answer my own question: Probably not and not even a valid question so who cares.

After today I wish I could wear an iPod all day long to drown out some of the ridiculous sh.t and moaning I hear throughout the day. Actually I'd like to work from my house. No dress code, no 20 mile drive in this hellish city, lunch at home every day, no whining people around me, etc. It'd be like getting a raise.

 

[BigFellor]

I'll answer my own question: Probably not and not even a valid question so who cares.

After today I wish I could wear an iPod all day long to drown out some of the ridiculous sh.t and moaning I hear throughout the day. Actually I'd like to work from my house. No dress code, no 20 mile drive in this hellish city, lunch at home every day, no whining people around me, etc. It'd be like getting a raise.

Sounds familiar. I personally think crew scheduling should be moved across town. Nevermind across the airport to a different building. Thinking of buying/figuring out an iPod just to drown out all the whining I have to put up with all day. So crews, if you think you have it bad, come sit in a room with them for 10 hours a day.

 

[brokedash]

SkyWest doesn't! Although many test this rule, along with the no shorts rule.

In my office one of the managers seems to be cracking down on people wearing hats...

I've got no beef againsit ipods or watching movies or sufing the net, just as long as your congnizant of your flights, produce releases correctly and check the radar to monitor flights progress. Way to many dispatch offices are micro-managed, and I think that only adds to the stress some dispatchers are put under. Fortunately my office is designed like a real office with no one starring you down and you can actaully see clear across the room and out the windows.

 

[whatfuelpolicy]

Guys,

I have been dispatching for 9 years now and when I started, it was great. I began my career at a charter company, left after the owners shut down the business to retire and went to PSA. I never would have thought that an airline would continuously operate the way they did. Hiring dispatchers that belong in the special olympics and expecting them to excel in a poor training environment. PSA constantly expected you to make chicken salad out of chicken sh!t. I stayed or 3 years and bolted to another charter company for twice the pay. My advice to any dispatcher that hasn't had the privelege of experiencing the 135 side of the fence; THE GRASS IS GREENER. The regionals aren't going to recognize the error of their ways until the good dispatchers jump ship to go elsewhere. PSA lost 4 supervisors in 3 months. It really opened some eyes at PSA because they had no experienced dispatchers willing to accept a promotion to supervisor and the people that were willing, just got their certificates. Find a charter company and go there! It is worth it.

 

[BigFellor]

they had no experienced dispatchers willing to accept a promotion to supervisor and the people that were willing, just got their certificates.

Hey hey, easy there BP. I know what you are getting at though, you should have been there to see the moron that just left. I wouldn't trust him to tie my shoe let alone work on an aircraft, in ANY capacity. Good to see ya still alive.

 

[whatfuelpolicy]

Hey hey, easy there BP. I know what you are getting at though, you should have been there to see the moron that just left. I wouldn't trust him to tie my shoe let alone work on an aircraft, in ANY capacity. Good to see ya still alive.

Sorry about that. Wasn't pointing the finger at everyone, just the fact that the airline keeps letting the good ones go because they'd rather have an un-experienced body that is willing to follow the fuel policy or be a puppet. PSA doesn't want free thinkers.

 

[brokedash]

A couple of more thoughts:

Professional courtesy shows. Simply speaking to crew members in a firm and through tone will go to great lengths. There are several captains I work with who now call me by name when I work their flights. They know who I am (as a dispatcher) because they see I take the time to do simple things such as rounding off the gate fuel, listening to their concerns and responding courtesy and getting them in touch with someone else in SOC if I can't answer their question, (IE: MX issue, crew issue, etc.).

Addressing a captain with his name also goes a long way, they appreciate that and now due to that some of these pilots and I are on a first name basis when they call.

These guys are also aware of the turds in the dispatch department, and it seems like every time I'm on the jumpseat one of the pilots will ask about that one certain dispatcher and it usually goes into a conversation on what a poor and unprofessional dispatcher this person is. Give them time and a couple of more dispatchers at my place will be infamous enough to be brought up by crew members.

Just a couple of things I've learned through dx that I thought I'd share.