2020 DX Outlook With Coronavirus

[westcoastDX]

Without spreading fear, would love to hear the temperature on the short-term and long-term outlook for Coronavirus. Unpaid leave, furlough, hiring freezes, delayed classes etc. Obviously this is a rapidly evolving situation with the airlines that people are trying to sort out.

 

[Luigi]

I’ll tell you what I tell all the new hires I’ve met. Have a few solid back up plans. For instance, furloughs go based on seniority; so if something unfortunate happened to some of the people senior to you...well then they wouldn’t need to furlough you anymore.

 

[ParrotheadJGR11]

For what it’s worth... interviews for a new hire class are ongoing at Delta this week and early next week.

 

[Nakruh01]

For what it’s worth... interviews for a new hire class are ongoing at Delta this week and early next week.

Don’t suppose you know if there will be additional interviews after next week? Still under review per Delta.

 

[ParrotheadJGR11]

Don’t suppose you know if there will be additional interviews after next week? Still under review per Delta.

I don’t know, sorry.

 

[Stone Cold]

The person that says they know what'll happen is a liar. Nobody knows how long the panic will last. It could be gone in a month or two, and it could be here a while.

You have to live your life, continue on, and do what's best for you, your family, and your career.

Best of luck to us all, and welcome to aviation.

 

[Sandydfw]

Stone Cold is right. No one knows what will happen. Currently airlines are hurting, reservations are way down,. flights are being canceled.
The panic maybe over in a few weeks or it may take airlines years to recover. It is all an unknown.

 

[DispatcherSam]

I’m more worried that the stores will be out of TP when I run out

 

[BARONBOY911]

For us that dont have flight bennies stock up on hand sanitizer and lets enjoy the $27 flights on Spirit

 

[Delta Echo]

I can tell you at least one airline has restricted the OCC to essential only personnel due to prevention of spreading illness.

 

[bbmikej]

I can tell you at least one airline has restricted the OCC to essential only personnel due to prevention of spreading illness.

I've also heard rumors that one of them is going to be splitting the work between their main and back up OCCs to keep the number of people together down

 

[Wonderlic]

There will be furloughs before another dispatcher gets hired at a major. Count on it.

 

[Delta Echo]

I've also heard rumors that one of them is going to be splitting the work between their main and back up OCCs to keep the number of people together down

I have heard that too and that it is happening at one airline.

 

[Delta Echo]

There will be furloughs before another dispatcher gets hired at a major. Count on it.

Disgusting it comes to that with mass society buying the main stream media hype over the 19th known species of a particular virus.

 

[Scarebus]

There will be furloughs before another dispatcher gets hired at a major. Count on it.

I strongly suspect the same. This is going to be the most catastrophic event in the airline industry’s history, which is saying A LOT.

European airlines are operating what are essentially ferry flights to their international destinations to maintain their slots. Chinese airlines can’t sell tickets for $3. The CDC is now telling everyone to not fly. I don’t think any of us can really imagine what is about to go down.

 

[FlyingSioux1]

There will be furloughs before another dispatcher gets hired at a major. Count on it.

Which makes me wonder about DL seeming to continue with their plans for the interviews this week and next.

 

[paincorp]

I think once the media has something else to move onto, we’ll see a pretty quick recovery, but right now this is getting ratings, which keeps the advertisers happy, and it’s a vicious cycle. Fear sells.

I’m curious to see if people feel the same about cargo airlines. If this really does cause companies to develop the ability to telecommute, and the bean counters see the cost savings, that could only mean good things for cargo since people will have to ship more instead of bringing with them. Granted the same thing was said the last time the economy took a nice steamy dump.

 

[BARONBOY911]

I hope this is not a stupid question but will this also affect cargo operators?

 

[Delta Echo]

I think once the media has something else to move onto, we’ll see a pretty quick recovery, but right now this is getting ratings, which keeps the advertisers happy, and it’s a vicious cycle. Fear sells.

I’m curious to see if people feel the same about cargo airlines. If this really does cause companies to develop the ability to telecommute, and the bean counters see the cost savings, that could only mean good things for cargo since people will have to ship more instead of bringing with them. Granted the same thing was said the last time the economy took a nice steamy dump.

People are not smart at all to listen to mainstream media beat the drum. That causes the stupidity we're seeing with all, "lock your doors and hoard toilet paper" lunacy going on. It also creates largely un-necessary travel downturn.

 

[Green12324]

Each company, and each department within them, is going to handle the developments differently. With that being said, the industry has been growing for the last 5+ years and that trend was expected to continue. The longer this downturn lasts the more aggressive companies will have to be in matching supply with demand and adjusting costs accordingly. My expectation is that hiring will flatline for the most part in Q2. If demand comes back up then Q3 would likely see a resumption in hiring, if it continues to decrease we'll likely see more aggressive staffing reductions. At the end of the day airlines exist to offer return on investment for shareholders, and they'll persue that goal above all else.

Disclaimer: I am but a lowly dispatcher, and have no specific or insider information to make my opinion any more legitimate than anyone else's.