Part 121 Remote Dispatching ist Kaput!

AKSledhead

AKSledhead

Well-Known Member
From the final(?) version of H.R. 3935 that is now on its way to the President's desk.

This definitely appeases some of my worries about our career, very grateful to all who lobbied for this.

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///AMG said:
Pardon my ignorance here.....would the concern be foreign DX working remote and snapping up jobs?
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That is indeed my most worrying concern, doesn't even have to be foreign, simply anyone dispatching flights besides those hired solely by the airline that operates the aircraft.
 
Makes sense. I'm glad that concern can be put to bed for now too.

Side note, just operated a flight up into Fairbanks a week or so ago, and it was icy and on and off snow with conditions not progressing as forecast (worse than forecast). Our dispatcher was awesome, all kinds of good info, sent new release after we chatted about alternates (original of PANC wasn't gonna work in a practical sense), and we exchanged ACARS love letters. I very much would not want someone who was subcontracted out to some remote call center that didn't have the same skin in the game.
 
///AMG said:
Makes sense. I'm glad that concern can be put to bed for now too.

Side note, just operated a flight up into Fairbanks a week or so ago, and it was icy and on and off snow with conditions not progressing as forecast (worse than forecast). Our dispatcher was awesome, all kinds of good info, sent new release after we chatted about alternates (original of PANC wasn't gonna work in a practical sense), and we exchanged ACARS love letters. I very much would not want someone who was subcontracted out to some remote call center that didn't have the same skin in the game.
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I strive to be this dispatcher.
 
AKSledhead said:
From the final(?) version of H.R. 3935 that is now on its way to the President's desk.

This definitely appeases some of my worries about our career, very grateful to all who lobbied for this.

View attachment 77922
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WHOA...I'm going to go look at this a lot more closely.

I don't think anyone here has yet caught on to the wording in this section...

Anyone notice they used the word "air carrier"?

Part 135 operators are also Air Carriers....
 
The second paragraph right under what you highlighted states it may be done elsewhere in an emergency. This could be a backup facility, or this could be remotely from a dispatchers home. I haven't read the full bill, I'm only going off what I see here, but if "a location other than the dispatch center" isn't specified, remote can likely still be done.

Remote dispatch (121) was started as an emergency for health and safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It would appear to me that remote dispatching is in fact not kaput, assuming the airline can make the case they need it under the emergency authority clause.
 
flynryan692 said:
The second paragraph right under what you highlighted states it may be done elsewhere in an emergency. This could be a backup facility, or this could be remotely from a dispatchers home. I haven't read the full bill, I'm only going off what I see here, but if "a location other than the dispatch center" isn't specified, remote can likely still be done.

Remote dispatch (121) was started as an emergency for health and safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It would appear to me that remote dispatching is in fact not kaput, assuming the airline can make the case they need it under the emergency authority clause.
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It goes on to say that it can't be done for longer than 14 days without the administrator's approval.
 
flynryan692 said:
The second paragraph right under what you highlighted states it may be done elsewhere in an emergency. This could be a backup facility, or this could be remotely from a dispatchers home. I haven't read the full bill, I'm only going off what I see here, but if "a location other than the dispatch center" isn't specified, remote can likely still be done.

Remote dispatch (121) was started as an emergency for health and safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It would appear to me that remote dispatching is in fact not kaput, assuming the airline can make the case they need it under the emergency authority clause.
Click to expand...
It also says "event that renders dispatch center or flight following center inoperable". During covid these offices were still operable. I don't see a way for remote dispatching to get pushed through with that language. Unless you some how made the argument that a public health emergency makes an office inoperable but even then there's a time limit.
 
My personal, cynical opinion is that certain companies were pushing this because they wanted dispatchers to still be able to work (from home) while in quarantine due to other family members having COVID and not having to use sick leave or PTO.

At any rate, hopefully there won't be any pandemics for another 100 years or so....time will tell!
 
who'swho said:
It also says "event that renders dispatch center or flight following center inoperable". During covid these offices were still operable. I don't see a way for remote dispatching to get pushed through with that language. Unless you some how made the argument that a public health emergency makes an office inoperable but even then there's a time limit.
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Yeah, I think it will come down to the interpretation of whoever has oversight on said airline asking for remote approval. One could argue that a pandemic, and the Government "guidance" to socially distance, warrants the use of remote dispatch because having people together in the dispatch center is dangerous and thus "not operable". Especially if local or federal Governments are shutting down businesses for health and safety. One could disagree with all that, too. That's pretty much how it played out during the pandemic, some agreed, some disagreed.

I think the time limit is fluff if I am being honest. At one point I remember it being "we can only do this for a couple of weeks" but "a couple of weeks" always got renewed to a couple more weeks. If they can just renew the emergency authority, I don't think it means much more than periodic reevaluation of the ongoing situation.
 
flynryan692 said:
Yeah, I think it will come down to the interpretation of whoever has oversight on said airline asking for remote approval. One could argue that a pandemic, and the Government "guidance" to socially distance, warrants the use of remote dispatch because having people together in the dispatch center is dangerous and thus "not operable". Especially if local or federal Governments are shutting down businesses for health and safety. One could disagree with all that, too. That's pretty much how it played out during the pandemic, some agreed, some disagreed.

I think the time limit is fluff if I am being honest. At one point I remember it being "we can only do this for a couple of weeks" but "a couple of weeks" always got renewed to a couple more weeks. If they can just renew the emergency authority, I don't think it means much more than periodic reevaluation of the ongoing situation.
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"Emergency authority" is all encompassing as we are aware. I don't disagree that an airline might try for WFH if a pandemic popped up tomorrow. Just seems this is more iron clad than what was in place before.

In any case, to go along with @manniax we're probably 100 years from the next pandemic if history is any guide. That's well beyond my retirement date.
 
SkyWest has a LOT of dx'ers working from home. They say they are the only airline to be authorized by the FAA to do this now, post-covid. Does this mean they'd have to stop that? Most of the folks who WFH there love it.
 
///AMG said:
Makes sense. I'm glad that concern can be put to bed for now too.

Side note, just operated a flight up into Fairbanks a week or so ago, and it was icy and on and off snow with conditions not progressing as forecast (worse than forecast). Our dispatcher was awesome, all kinds of good info, sent new release after we chatted about alternates (original of PANC wasn't gonna work in a practical sense), and we exchanged ACARS love letters. I very much would not want someone who was subcontracted out to some remote call center that didn't have the same skin in the game.
Click to expand...
I think that was my flight
 
BRUSR_ONE said:
SkyWest has a LOT of dx'ers working from home. They say they are the only airline to be authorized by the FAA to do this now, post-covid. Does this mean they'd have to stop that? Most of the folks who WFH there love it.
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Do they?
My understanding was that the only Dispatchers they had working from home were for their 135 operations...and "scheduled" 135 ops.
 
flynryan692 said:
The second paragraph right under what you highlighted states it may be done elsewhere in an emergency. This could be a backup facility, or this could be remotely from a dispatchers home. I haven't read the full bill, I'm only going off what I see here, but if "a location other than the dispatch center" isn't specified, remote can likely still be done.

Remote dispatch (121) was started as an emergency for health and safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It would appear to me that remote dispatching is in fact not kaput, assuming the airline can make the case they need it under the emergency authority clause.
Click to expand...
I don't recall from my remote work time at OO, but didn't the individual dispatch home offices effectively get added to A008 and defacto become a dispatch center? Seems like an easy argument if I am remembering correctly.
 
I’d be interested to see what the interpretations of it will be for “other air carriers”. I think it’ll only really fall into those that operated as Scheduled Air Carriers but yo no sé. The argument that this was somehow going to allow outsourcing when union contracts exist and residency requirements could be placed seems moot.
 
Also. (if I remember from when I did my time at the Mormon Air Force) when the initial legislation was being brought up, the end of remote work was to be set a year after this bill was signed. So there’s still some time for some spatchin in spandex.
 
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