Shocked at the state of Dispatcher Profession

[BigFellor]

My company only has a handful of dispatchers so it doesn't take much to remember who is good and who sucks. .... then there are the names that I see and I know right away that I'll have to call because 99% of the time they have missed something, and when I do call they sound like they have the deer in headlights look .... I don't really have time to baby sit my dispatcher as well. (not saying I'm perfect...I make mistakes too and have had some of the good dispatchers catch stuff I missed)

Almost sounds like you are at my company. And yes, there are quite a few of the dispatchers here who often have the "deer in the headlights look".

I like to think I am one of the good ones. I'm quite thorough always checking NOTAMs, rnwy conditions, TFRs, etc, etc .... But I have had other dispatchers flat out tell me "No, I dont go in and change anything on the TLR". Unbelievable. We have a guy who is almost COMPLETELY useless and doesn't understand the BASIC concepts who constantly needs babysitting. He is one of those who figures if it isnt in the TAF, there is no need for an alternate. Nevermind there is lvl 4 and 5 convection SURROUNDING the airport and all of it is heading towards the airport. 5 mins of hold fuel and no alternate. He is MUCH too busy trying to get to the bottom of the internet (That part is for you ABC123 if you are who I think you are. Not that you did it, but you should remember who did, lol ) and staring off into space to notice or care much. Idiots.

I understand for the most part now, regionals seem to be a stepping stone to something better, but for God's sake people, take a little pride in your work and do it well. The safety of thousands of lives are in your hands and the Captain's hand every day. One of my biggest complaints is these people just dont seem to give a damn.

 

[ABC123]

BigFellor...correct, and I hear these guys say how they want to go to go the majors, and yet do not want to do the work here, it is only harder at the majors, because they expect you to do the work.

Thursday night, actually had a dispatcher have a flight divert to MEM due to TSTM's and tornadic activity in the LIT area, was told to keep aircraft on the ground in MEM until the storms passed, he allowed the flight to get airborne out of MEM, because he failed to tell the captain the actual wx conditions in LIT, and was well aware of them. Actually sent this flight from MEM to LIT with no alternate, no hold fuel, and flight diverted back to MEM.

But yet that is okay, but my God add 2lbs of extra fuel and the manager is all over you

 

[dispatchguy]

But yet that is okay, but my God add 2lbs of extra fuel and the manager is all over you

Truer words were never spoken.

At my last gig, our manager wasnt even signed off as a dispatcher, and hadnt passed a comp check; but yet, he was more than happy to pressure you and 2nd guess you anytime he didnt agree with the way you were releasing.

Yes, I realize that fuel isnt free (especially now), even if a major is paying your fuel bill, but still, the last time I read 121, one thing to keep in mind in "factors in computing fuel required" is that you also have to consider factors which may delay landing of the aircraft.

At one point in time, the ADF was trying to get added to 121 a reg that said you couldnt pressure a dispatcher like 121.580 is written for aircrews.

I guess the ATA got that killed...

 

[onewithwings]

That is the best advice any newbie can get. The pride you take in your work...going above and beyond to produce such work...is huge in what we do. I hate seeing releases that were half-a$$ed...almost makes me sick...and it makes us ALL look like idiots when you have a small group that produce crap releases.

A word of caution for those who do take pride in your work. (True story here.) I've been with this carrier almost 10 years. I had two years prior dispatch experience before this gig. During my first year here, I was "counseled" on several occasions due to coworkers complaining that I made more work for them because the crews were calling and asking the other dispatchers to compile a release like <insert name> does...and that I made them look bad. *sighs*

 

[ABC123]

My manager is not signed off either, and he knows better than to ever ever talk to me about my fuel loads, and he will not.

I know, I do my job, I put remarks on the release, I call the flights via Delta Radio or ACARS, and I am hated because I do my job.

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

 

[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