The demise of the dispatcher

C150J

C150J

Well-Known Member
Just wanted to highlight how cost-cutting has effected another facet of the industry: the duty of your dispatcher.

Some understaffed airlines have given dispatchers the insurmountable task of cutting 80+ releases in a given shift, effectively making them "flight followers" and not trained professionals. Filing through thunderstorms, missing MELs, and other errors have increased dramatically, as dispatchers are being pushed to the limit. They simply don't have the time to do their job.

Any similar stories?
 
Not the slightest bit surprised at your angst with managment over the workload you are expected to sustain during a shift. I've noticed a significant amount of errors in paperwork errors/quality from our SOC. Perhaps it's time to say enough is enough to your supervisors and indicate to them that errors are and will be continued to be made. Whether the powers that be realize it or not they are creating a further burden on the crew and in particular the Captain for not generating a quality work product (releases, maintenance entries, MELs, etc...). This all has the net effect of slowing the operation down because items that are routinely screwed up doesn't foster a lot of trust amongst the pilots out on the line who have a certificate in their pocket. Recognizing that the AX is also a certificate that is open to action by the Feds should further motivate you and your fellow dispatchers to act. Best of luck...
 
I agree. Although not a dispatcher (just a pilot), I feel for our SOC. A lot of pilots tend to blame them (I'm not denying that there ARE bad apples here and there), yet I think their mistakes are a symptom of a much bigger problem.
 
Who did you vote for as your favorite dispatcher? I voted for Hurtis, of course he bought me off with a $5 starbucks card the last time he jumpseated.
 
C150J said:
Just wanted to highlight how cost-cutting has effected another facet of the industry: the duty of your dispatcher.

Some understaffed airlines have given dispatchers the insurmountable task of cutting 80+ releases in a given shift, effectively making them "flight followers" and not trained professionals. Filing through thunderstorms, missing MELs, and other errors have increased dramatically, as dispatchers are being pushed to the limit. They simply don't have the time to do their job.

Any similar stories?
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Every damn day, sadly. We've got a handful of dispatchers here that are awesome. One, if the airplane caught fire I'd be cool as a cucumber if she were my dispatcher. Most of our guys are just seriously overworked. Back when we were hiring, most didn't have a clue what they were doing, either. Now that we've been on a hiring freeze (and most aren't leaving for FedEx as soon as they get some experience under their belt anymore), the experience is starting to show through. It's a lot better than it was this time last year, but it would be even better if they weren't handling so many flights at once. Honestly, I don't see how the FAA lets this slide. Wait. Yes, I do.
 
C150J said:
Just wanted to highlight how cost-cutting has effected another facet of the industry: the duty of your dispatcher.

Some understaffed airlines have given dispatchers the insurmountable task of cutting 80+ releases in a given shift, effectively making them "flight followers" and not trained professionals. Filing through thunderstorms, missing MELs, and other errors have increased dramatically, as dispatchers are being pushed to the limit. They simply don't have the time to do their job.

Any similar stories?
Click to expand...

I have dispatched for a regional. And yes we had that problem (Mostly because the expierence ones were leaving and we were short staffed)
This was back in 2007/2008. But it's not like every flight was bad it would be about 1 or 2 out of 110 flights I would get a call from a CA having an issues with my release (E.G. the 123 alternate rule I may haved missed or a TS in the flight path but most of the time nil) but that's just me. But I did have one REAL bad day.
 
I imagine the dispatchers use some sort of softwear to create all these releases and flight plans. While it makes the dispatchers more efficient in the planning phase, it comes at a cost, they don't always catch all those things (en-route WX) that could affect the flight.

I find that once you get the dispatchers attention they're ready and willing to help, but most of the time we hear nothing from them...
 
At work at the place CrippleHawk used to DX for (I think). Things have gotten better lately, but there was a time period (probably right about when he left) where almost EVERY release had errors on it. Part of the problem stems from the fact that most of the releases were made up at the beginning of a dispatchers shift and never changed to reflect current conditions before they were printed out at the gate hours later. Another problem was the shear level of inexperience. We have some guys who used to dispatch for Emory and have been doing this for longer than most of us have been flying, but we also have a lot of new guys who go through an accelerated program and then get minimal training at the airline before being thrown to the wolves.

We have 3 or 4 dispatchers covering 50 airplanes that are doing average stage lengths of 45 minutes. That's a lot of stuff for each one to keep track of. I can count on one hand the number of times I've received an inflight message about upcoming weather or operations.
 
BobDDuck said:
but there was a time period (probably right about when he left) where almost EVERY release had errors on it....
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This happened after April 2008? Keep in mind I do not remember getting that many complaints from CAs although I had my bad days. Like one time in April 2008 (My last month) when a CLT SID Changed from Hornet 2 to Hornet 3 (I think that is the name of that SID). That was a REALLY bad day for us.

Basically we were dispachting flights out of CLT Using SID Hornet 2. But because SID Hornet 2 expired. Hornet 3 became the only SID for those routes. So we had to go back and do every flight release out of CLT and manually insert the routes (there was about 6-10 flights that were affected I think). Most of the Captains were cool. But the Captain of flight US2349 CLT-CHA kept harassing us every 20 to 30 seconds (He is one of those High MX type CAs).
 
BobDDuck said:
At work at the place CrippleHawk used to DX for (I think). Things have gotten better lately, but there was a time period (probably right about when he left) where almost EVERY release had errors on it. Part of the problem stems from the fact that most of the releases were made up at the beginning of a dispatchers shift and never changed to reflect current conditions before they were printed out at the gate hours later.
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Blowing things a tad out of proportion here. First, 50 - 60 releases are not generated at the beginning of a shift. Not now, and not ever. The most they are worked up is probably 90 to 120 mins prior to departure (much closer to departure as a general rule if it's a weather day). They are due into "the system" 70 mins prior to departure. Now, as for the old weather you are getting, bitch to IT about it, maybe you can get somewhere. They changed weather providers and the weather you get does not update when you pull a release at the gate anymore.

BobDDuck said:
Another problem was the shear level of inexperience. We have some guys who used to dispatch for Emory and have been doing this for longer than most of us have been flying, but we also have a lot of new guys who go through an accelerated program and then get minimal training at the airline before being thrown to the wolves.
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You can not blame all of this on training. We can not possibly train new people for every situation they will encounter in the two weeks we have with them. These people have to be able to think on their own, and be able to recognize when they do not know / understand something and ask for help. We certainly can not teach that. Unfortunately, there are some who are just button pushers, and have no understanding of what is actually going on, or how / where to find the information they need. Experience goes a long way. Our most senior guy is about 8 years, then 5 years, then 1 year.


BobDDuck said:
We have 3 or 4 dispatchers covering 50 airplanes that are doing average stage lengths of 45 minutes. That's a lot of stuff for each one to keep track of. I can count on one hand the number of times I've received an inflight message about upcoming weather or operations.
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Indeed it is a lot to keep track of. On average, a dispatcher here probably works up 50 - 70 releases in a 10 hour shift (2nd shift 30 -45 or so). If it's a good VFR day, a decent dispatcher can almost manage. You simply can not keep track of EVERYTHING with that many flights. If it's a weather day, forget it. We are only authorized to have 12 dispatchers, which means 3 - 4 per shift depending on the day. Not enough if you ask me.
 
I was an aircraft dispatcher for years doing mostly international releases with a couple daily ones from JFK to ORD.

It isn't an easy job, it is a lot of work and a lot of reading, and the more you push guys to do too many releases the more the CA has to make up the difference. Domestically, at commuters, so often the pilots know the routes so well the dispatcher can kinda coast. At the regional level and up its an easy way to bone a crew.

Wait till there are a few fuel emergencies out there, FAA will start auditing flight plans, and then the fit will hit the shan.
 
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