Question about dispatching

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Yurie158

Well-Known Member
I will be closing in on 2 years working for a 121 supplemental carrier.

I'm looking to move towards the passenger side of things aka frontier, Alaska, the majors.

Question is, I'm a flight follower working for a cargo 121 supplemental, would there be problems trying to move to the airlines I listed above?

Or as long as I have 121 experience, I should be alright?

Thank you
 
If anyone has moved from a 121 supplemental to a passenger airline or know of anyone who has, would appreciate any insight.
 
Yurie158 said:
I will be closing in on 2 years working for a 121 supplemental carrier.

I'm looking to move towards the passenger side of things aka frontier, Alaska, the majors.

Question is, I'm a flight follower working for a cargo 121 supplemental, would there be problems trying to move to the airlines I listed above?

Or as long as I have 121 experience, I should be alright?

Thank you
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I also came from a 121 supp. Turned down an offer from American and ultimately ended up at Brown. You'll be fine. Keep working on building that experience, network, and keep applying. Best of luck!
 
Atc89 said:
I also came from a 121 supp. Turned down an offer from American and ultimately ended up at Brown. You'll be fine. Keep working on building that experience, network, and keep applying. Best of luck!
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I think you're one of the few and brave turning down an offer from a major but that's awesome to hear!

So, what would you say experience wise is important that majors want to see? Any advice for preparing for an interview for them?

All responses are appreciated :)
 
Work on marketing and leveraging your experience at your supplemental carrier. While you may not do as many releases as someone at a regional for example, you probably do a great deal of other things that others do not (i.e. setting up customs, crew scheduling functions, etc.). Although these things are not directly related to working at a major, they do show that you can manage different tasks, while still maintaining a high level of safety and efficiency with your flights. Just my 2 cents, based on my limited experience. I'm sure others here have a lot of great info, and more knowledge than myself.
 
Yurie158 said:
I think you're one of the few and brave turning down an offer from a major but that's awesome to hear!

So, what would you say experience wise is important that majors want to see? Any advice for preparing for an interview for them?

All responses are appreciated :)
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Happens more then you would think, especially when multiple majors hire at the same time.
 
Atc89 said:
(i.e. setting up customs, crew scheduling functions, etc.).
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Are these things that happen at other 121 supplemental carriers? Maybe customs but I can't imagine them not having a dedicated crew scheduling department. The 3 or 4 I'm familiar with definitely don't do that.
 
TRIGGERED said:
Are these things that happen at other 121 supplemental carriers? Maybe customs but I can't imagine them not having a dedicated crew scheduling department. The 3 or 4 I'm familiar with definitely don't do that.
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Absolutely. We had one full time crew scheduler, and she worked days. I was on the night shift....which means that function was mine. An adhoc trip consisted of me booking it with the charter department, establishing a showtime and calling out the crew (making sure they were legal), setting up customs at various locations if it were an intl. trip, coordinating fuel at the FBOs, setting up crew catering as required, arranging for hotels, putting crews into rest, auditing hazmat ppwk, running hazmat acceptance checklists with crews, etc. Not to mention the whole dispatching thing. Then in my "free" time, I did some different landing reports for the company, and closed out trip paperwork. Definitely keeps you on your toes, but do not miss those days.
 
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Atc89 said:
Absolutely. We had one full time crew scheduler, and she worked days. I was on the night shift....which means that function was mine. An adhoc trip consisted of me booking it with the charter department, establishing a showtime and calling out the crew (making sure they were legal), setting up customs at various locations if it were an intl. trip, coordinating fuel at the FBOs, setting up crew catering as required, arranging for hotels, putting crews into rest, auditing hazmat ppwk, running hazmat acceptance checklists with crews, etc. Not to mention the whole dispatching thing. Then in my "free" time, I did some different landing reports for the company, and closed out trip paperwork. Definitely keeps you on your toes, but do not miss those days.
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Damn that's wild. I think our company has just as many if not more crew schedulers than dispatchers. I think people at my company would throw a hissy fit if we ever had to fill out a gendec
 
Yurie158 said:
I will be closing in on 2 years working for a 121 supplemental carrier.

I'm looking to move towards the passenger side of things aka frontier, Alaska, the majors.

Question is, I'm a flight follower working for a cargo 121 supplemental, would there be problems trying to move to the airlines I listed above?

Or as long as I have 121 experience, I should be alright?

Thank you
Click to expand...
Don't be so quick to dismiss those collateral duties. I've found that it's the breadth of one's skillset, not the depth of their experience, that brings opportunities. You say you have two years of experience. I say you have one year of experience repeated twice. It's a good foundation on which to build. Now you need to broaden your skills. Become an instructor, or chief/standards Dispatcher, or assume some other kind of leadership role. Work that no one else is doing or wants to do is an opportunity. Take advantage of it.
 
QXDX said:
Don't be so quick to dismiss those collateral duties. I've found that it's the breadth of one's skillset, not the depth of their experience, that brings opportunities. You say you have two years of experience. I say you have one year of experience repeated twice. It's a good foundation on which to build. Now you need to broaden your skills. Become an instructor, or chief/standards Dispatcher, or assume some other kind of leadership role. Work that no one else is doing or wants to do is an opportunity. Take advantage of it.
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This...exactly! I took on the duties of teaching ground school and doing OJT at the supplemental where I started, as well as becoming a "lead" flight follower. Whatever you can do to stand out, and set yourself apart from the crowd, do it!
 
TRIGGERED said:
Damn that's wild. I think our company has just as many if not more crew schedulers than dispatchers. I think people at my company would throw a hissy fit if we ever had to fill out a gendec
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Man you have no idea. Lol Getting a stamped outbound gendec across on the fax in the middle of the night was the most satisfying feeling in the world. (Yes lots of places still use fax, it's mind boggling) Amazing how difficult simple tasks can become when you are doing them in the middle of the night, when most places are closed. You quickly learn the best places to clear in and out, and plan those as tech stops accordingly. You also quickly learn the best phone numbers to try to get ahold of someone on.
 
Atc89 said:
Absolutely. We had one full time crew scheduler, and she worked days. I was on the night shift....which means that function was mine. An adhoc trip consisted of me booking it with the charter department, establishing a showtime and calling out the crew (making sure they were legal), setting up customs at various locations if it were an intl. trip, coordinating fuel at the FBOs, setting up crew catering as required, arranging for hotels, putting crews into rest, auditing hazmat ppwk, running hazmat acceptance checklists with crews, etc. Not to mention the whole dispatching thing. Then in my "free" time, I did some different landing reports for the company, and closed out trip paperwork. Definitely keeps you on your toes, but do not miss those days.
Click to expand...

Screw all of that. Makes the regional life thing not seem so bad.
 
Atc89 said:
Man you have no idea. Lol Getting a stamped outbound gendec across on the fax in the middle of the night was the most satisfying feeling in the world. (Yes lots of places still use fax, it's mind boggling) Amazing how difficult simple tasks can become when you are doing them in the middle of the night, when most places are closed. You quickly learn the best places to clear in and out, and plan those as tech stops accordingly. You also quickly learn the best phone numbers to try to get ahold of someone on.
Click to expand...
Oh I spent enough time working 135 to know the horrors of customs. You quickly become familiar with each airports customs offices and know which ones are going to be a problem and which ones are easy, especially when dealing with small airports that don't actually have customs on the field. I remember it was incredible when we discovered a select few airports actually used email instead of faxing and it blew my mind how easy it was haha
 
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