dsptchrnja
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2002
- Posts
- 304
rvsm410 said:
What 121 operation do you dispatch for?
Your understanding is quite confused. The comments made by IFLYOU were a bit over the top, so I don't fault you for that. The approach to dispatching at NJA is not exactly the same as it is at 121 carriers (although - we will be 121 supplemental carrier next year (NJLA) and will have to adopt a more similiar style). At 121, your approach is centered around control (and safety) - as you implied in your comments. At NJA, our approach is centered around service (and safety). The service we provide is TIME and SAFETY for our crews. You would have to see our scheduling system to really understand. But we ask crews to do a lot of flights and when the changes start coming and planes start breaking the crews don't even always get the full hour in between flights to eat, let alone flight plan, analyze weather, calculate performance, fuel analysis, and file a flight plan. One minute they are asked to go to PBI, the next minute they are supposed to go to some po-dunk airport in Texas no one has ever heard of. So if they show up at the FBO and all they have to do is review all the dirty work that's been done and perhaps check a few things, that is buying a lot of time and giving them perhaps more mental stamina to concentrate on passengers and planes rather than worrying about if they calculated the weight and balance correctly or figuring out if the dang airport we want them to go to even has fuel service available. And it buys time to allow crews to fly more legs in a day than they could otherwise.
Yes, NJA sells the concept to the owners that they go above the minimum requirement of what's required by instituting a dispatch system. It doesn't just give the appearance of a safer flight, as you say, it IS a safer flight for the same reason it is at your 121 carrier. I'm not so worked up about control as you guys are. But the system of controls is in place and responsibilites are clearly defined.
You may be making the same mistake some pilots do - confusing pay with responsibility. If life were perfect, it certainly should work that way but just doesn't. NJA dxrs might get paid more because the work is harder than the avg 121 dx (at least that's what I prefer to think). Don't confuse that to mean we provide a better service. 121 dxr's know the eqiupment they are dispatching better than we frax dxrs. But I think more is asked of us. We have no route structure. I did about 40 releases earlier today - almost triple what you would have done - and I had to build all my routes for city pairs that aren't in a route database - for some challenging airports you have never heard of. 1 minute before I got to work I had no idea which 2 or 3 out of 12 different types of aircraft I might be working today. You (121) only work one type and have more training on it. And I eat lunch while working every day because if I don't I will get too far behind and screw the next shift. Not saying at all anyone is "better" - just pointing out the differences.
Starting out I had a job offer from NJA and from a United regional. I could have gone either way but took NJA because of the money and I have family in Ohio. I would love to work in a Delta or AA flight center but will never go back now because I would have to take a huge pay cut and start all over again. Best of luck to you.
Last edited:
