New Republic Airlines dispatcher training program

DaWolf85 said:
Looks like the program is open again.

Does anyone know how open they are to hiring from out of state? From what I've seen, they really make sure to reference that it's the only dispatch school in Indiana, which feels like they're trying to get people that are local. Have they been successful in that?
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Don't take my word as the gospel but it doesn't really matter. Essentially if you can be in Indiana (Out of pocket accommodation) during the entirety of the program, then you are in. As opposed to the usual hiring out of state dispatchers Republic usually do, where they put you in a hotel for three weeks.
I think its a great program. 6 weeks of training, then OJTs, then COMPs check at $15/Hr. sure could've come handy for me when I first got my license
 
DispatchWahala said:
Don't take my word as the gospel but it doesn't really matter. Essentially if you can be in Indiana (Out of pocket accommodation) during the entirety of the program, then you are in. As opposed to the usual hiring out of state dispatchers Republic usually do, where they put you in a hotel for three weeks.
I think its a great program. 6 weeks of training, then OJTs, then COMPs check at $15/Hr. sure could've come handy for me when I first got my license
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Is republic still working from home?
 
Karee said:
Republic got their work from home authorization extended so yes some dispatchers are still working remotely.
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How did they ever get this signed off? Are there restrictions that you have to come into the office every few days? Ppl must live 50 miles from HQ etc? If this is working here I wonder why other airlines haven’t jumped on board. A lot of money could be saved not needing to house everyone in an NOC.
 
mikealpha said:
How did they ever get this signed off? Are there restrictions that you have to come into the office every few days? Ppl must live 50 miles from HQ etc? If this is working here I wonder why other airlines haven’t jumped on board. A lot of money could be saved not needing to house everyone in an NOC.
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AFAIK the unions are against it. There is a requirement to dispatch there for a year before someone can work remotely. I don’t believe there’s a radius but I could be wrong. Any YX dispatchers care to chime in?
 
A big thing in dispatching is DRM. Id be curious to know how that gets handled with remote dispatching. A big part of the job is handling roll over calls, calls when a dispatcher is away from the desk, and being able to see what a fellow dispatcher is doing when they are having a problem getting the software to work. Having everyone in one office together allows you to hear all the conversations around so you can do more than just put a call on hold. If I cant hear or see what a another dispatcher is doing because they are working remotely, I would feel pretty blind and a loss of situational awareness. Same can be said if I was working remotely. Asking questions is easy in an office. When working remotely, you would be forced to call or message and wait for a response versus just asking the person next to you.

Even if it would save money on running an ops center, I would think airlines wouldnt want the liability and potential bad press. What if a family member or friend overheard or voice recorded some of the phone calls and situations that we deal with and leaked it online or to the media? Lots of things and conversations occur in an ops center that the general public probably shouldnt be listening in to. The airline would need to be policing the home life of the dispatcher to make sure that everything that happened during work stayed confidential.
 
Flagship_dxer said:
A big thing in dispatching is DRM. Id be curious to know how that gets handled with remote dispatching. A big part of the job is handling roll over calls, calls when a dispatcher is away from the desk, and being able to see what a fellow dispatcher is doing when they are having a problem getting the software to work. Having everyone in one office together allows you to hear all the conversations around so you can do more than just put a call on hold. If I cant hear or see what a another dispatcher is doing because they are working remotely, I would feel pretty blind and a loss of situational awareness. Same can be said if I was working remotely. Asking questions is easy in an office. When working remotely, you would be forced to call or message and wait for a response versus just asking the person next to you.

Even if it would save money on running an ops center, I would think airlines wouldnt want the liability and potential bad press. What if a family member or friend overheard or voice recorded some of the phone calls and situations that we deal with and leaked it online or to the media? Lots of things and conversations occur in an ops center that the general public probably shouldnt be listening in to. The airline would need to be policing the home life of the dispatcher to make sure that everything that happened during work stayed confidential.
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Hands down it's the lack of immediate verbal communication. The tech is easy to implement for WFH, and for something like a 135 operation, it would be more feasible. But for a 121, having all your people in the same room pays off. At my work you can easily overhear crew scheduling or maintenance controllers, and it can help you anticipate problems or issues for your flights. You are absolutely right, you lose that when everyone works separately.
 
Flagship_dxer said:
A big thing in dispatching is DRM. Id be curious to know how that gets handled with remote dispatching. A big part of the job is handling roll over calls, calls when a dispatcher is away from the desk, and being able to see what a fellow dispatcher is doing when they are having a problem getting the software to work. Having everyone in one office together allows you to hear all the conversations around so you can do more than just put a call on hold. If I cant hear or see what a another dispatcher is doing because they are working remotely, I would feel pretty blind and a loss of situational awareness. Same can be said if I was working remotely. Asking questions is easy in an office. When working remotely, you would be forced to call or message and wait for a response versus just asking the person next to you.

Even if it would save money on running an ops center, I would think airlines wouldnt want the liability and potential bad press. What if a family member or friend overheard or voice recorded some of the phone calls and situations that we deal with and leaked it online or to the media? Lots of things and conversations occur in an ops center that the general public probably shouldnt be listening in to. The airline would need to be policing the home life of the dispatcher to make sure that everything that happened during work stayed confidential.
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DRM is done using Microsoft Teams and the phones work exactly as they always have except now they have a software front end instead of a physical handset. I'm not sure how Republic does it, but when I did it we had a specific DRM text channel to send messages to everybody in (imo that gives bigger exposure to something going on, or a question somebody has, which is a good thing), the Supervisors had a text channel for their daily updates they'd put out and of course you can PM or call anybody privately when you want or need to. I think a Teams call is the best form of immediate verbal communication you can get when doing WFH, most people answer a Teams call immediately. I've used it to talk to people in the same room as me just for the convenience. DRM is easy with Teams and I never felt like anything was ever compromised. Most people communicate through Teams regardless of whether or not they are in the occ or at home so it is truly business as usual. I guess if you haven't ever used Teams none of that makes any sense so all I can say is "trust me bro".
 
flynryan692 said:
DRM is done using Microsoft Teams and the phones work exactly as they always have except now they have a software front end instead of a physical handset. I'm not sure how Republic does it, but when I did it we had a specific DRM text channel to send messages to everybody in (imo that gives bigger exposure to something going on, or a question somebody has, which is a good thing), the Supervisors had a text channel for their daily updates they'd put out and of course you can PM or call anybody privately when you want or need to. I think a Teams call is the best form of immediate verbal communication you can get when doing WFH, most people answer a Teams call immediately. I've used it to talk to people in the same room as me just for the convenience. DRM is easy with Teams and I never felt like anything was ever compromised. Most people communicate through Teams regardless of whether or not they are in the occ or at home so it is truly business as usual. I guess if you haven't ever used Teams none of that makes any sense so all I can say is "trust me bro".
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When you did wfh, how were arinc, satcom, radio conversations and any other voice conversations kept internal? How did the airline police who you let into your work area to prevent the general public from hearing about security, maintenance and safety related voice conservations? A medlink phone patch often deals with medical information that is on a need to know basis. Random people or family in your home shouldnt be hearing these conversations.
 
flynryan692 said:
DRM is done using Microsoft Teams and the phones work exactly as they always have except now they have a software front end instead of a physical handset. I'm not sure how Republic does it, but when I did it we had a specific DRM text channel to send messages to everybody in (imo that gives bigger exposure to something going on, or a question somebody has, which is a good thing), the Supervisors had a text channel for their daily updates they'd put out and of course you can PM or call anybody privately when you want or need to. I think a Teams call is the best form of immediate verbal communication you can get when doing WFH, most people answer a Teams call immediately. I've used it to talk to people in the same room as me just for the convenience. DRM is easy with Teams and I never felt like anything was ever compromised. Most people communicate through Teams regardless of whether or not they are in the occ or at home so it is truly business as usual. I guess if you haven't ever used Teams none of that makes any sense so all I can say is "trust me bro".
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That said, there is a huge difference between TEAMS in the same room and TEAMS when you're not in the same room. Our shop was divided during COVID and there was a vast difference between the DRM in the same room and DRM between buildings. TEAMS was used for everyone but there is just so much value in being able to overhear the people around you. I'm not saying DRM remotely is impossible, just saying it is definitely inferior to in person.
 
Flagship_dxer said:
When you did wfh, how were arinc, satcom, radio conversations and any other voice conversations kept internal? How did the airline police who you let into your work area to prevent the general public from hearing about security, maintenance and safety related voice conservations? A medlink phone patch often deals with medical information that is on a need to know basis. Random people or family in your home shouldnt be hearing these conversations.
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Well the general public isn't in my house, and everything is connected through VPN. Really, nothing is on your own home network, the VPN creates a secure connection to a company hosted and secured VM that runs all of the software off the servers rather than the PC. There isn't a way for the "general public" to access anything. The manual has procedures in place for security, such as locking doors and windows, prevent unauthorized access to the PC, etc. Not sure what you mean by "airline police", but if you're talking about security officers at the occ we didn't have that.

Also, before it comes up, no Mr. FAA can't come into a dispatchers home. They conduct their surveillance remotely. Also random drug tests are notified through an email or Teams message and the dispatcher reports to the testing center just as they otherwise would in the occ.

flygirl142 said:
That said, there is a huge difference between TEAMS in the same room and TEAMS when you're not in the same room. Our shop was divided during COVID and there was a vast difference between the DRM in the same room and DRM between buildings. TEAMS was used for everyone but there is just so much value in being able to overhear the people around you. I'm not saying DRM remotely is impossible, just saying it is definitely inferior to in person.
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I think it is personal preference to be honest. Some people like the human interaction, some people are fine without and want to focus on the work. I think both are fine. I don't find much difference and I usually would stick to Teams for most things (I like having receipts for CYA purposes), but I can think of 5 people off the top of my head that like to chit chat, wander around, and don't utilize teams as much. They all come from a time before the digital communication in the occ.
 
flynryan692 said:
Well the general public isn't in my house, and everything is connected through VPN. Really, nothing is on your own home network, the VPN creates a secure connection to a company hosted and secured VM that runs all of the software off the servers rather than the PC. There isn't a way for the "general public" to access anything. The manual has procedures in place for security, such as locking doors and windows, prevent unauthorized access to the PC, etc. Not sure what you mean by "airline police", but if you're talking about security officers at the occ we didn't have that.
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I can almost guarantee you that if WFH dispatching was implemented on wide scale, you would be having a certain percentage of dispatchers trying to have a home life and work life at the same time. As an example, Sundays during football season or summer time weekend BBQs. The typical dispatch desk would attract attention from both family and guests in the home. A busy irops day with the phones ringing for 8 hours wouldnt go unnoticed even with locked doors. Its inevitable that family and guests will overhear your work conversations. There will be dispatchers that will no doubt show off their cool work station with all their programs running to friends and family.

Its easy to have a procedure in the manual for work from home for these kinds of situations and conversations but it will be abused. Someone will eventually ruin it for the rest of the group.
 
Flagship_dxer said:
I can almost guarantee you that if WFH dispatching was implemented on wide scale, you would be having a certain percentage of dispatchers trying to have a home life and work life at the same time. As an example, Sundays during football season or summer time weekend BBQs. The typical dispatch desk would attract attention from both family and guests in the home. A busy irops day with the phones ringing for 8 hours wouldnt go unnoticed even with locked doors. Its inevitable that family and guests will overhear your work conversations. There will be dispatchers that will no doubt show off their cool work station with all their programs running to friends and family.

Its easy to have a procedure in the manual for work from home for these kinds of situations and conversations but it will be abused. Someone will eventually ruin it for the rest of the group.
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In the 2+ years remote dispatching has been in place exactly 0 people have abused it and it remains a safe an effective practice. I like to think better of my colleagues across the industry, we're professionals that take company policy and FAA requirements seriously. If somebody is going to abuse remote dispatching and blatantly disregard their duties as a dispatcher, then not only do they not deserve the privilege, they shouldn't (and likely won't) be a dispatcher at all. I think everybody understands and respects that.
 
I was one of the first people to dispatch from home and out of state in that matter. I never had issues and I enjoyed it a lot actually. If you constantly need a DRM hand to hold or a person to chat with face to face then you have bigger issues... It is perfectly safe and a great option to have for people. Microsoft Teams is a great tool for communication inside or outside the Command center also. If you don't like the idea of DFH then don't do it.
 
onlyblueskies said:
I was one of the first people to dispatch from home and out of state in that matter. I never had issues and I enjoyed it a lot actually. If you constantly need a DRM hand to hold or a person to chat with face to face then you have bigger issues... It is perfectly safe and a great option to have for people. Microsoft Teams is a great tool for communication inside or outside the Command center also. If you don't like the idea of DFH then don't do it.
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Agreed. I never felt disconnected working from home. Teams does a very good job of keeping people connected. Is it the same as being at the office? No, of course not. But i just relied on a different way to communicate. The company never saw an increase in asap reports either.
 
So does anyone got any tips on the republic dispatch program interview? Got one tomorrow morning. Don't think I should be to worried since I am internal applicant but don't have any dispatch experience though.
 
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