Bananabusdx
Well-Known Member
“well I wasn’t asking, I’m just letting you know. If it shows up and you’re not there, then you get to deal with those consequences”
AA dispatcher layoffs?
- Thread starter Nearest Alternate
- Start date
I Like IKE
Well-Known Member
Yeah, there's no asking. I've said, "Well, you're the alternate. If they divert there and nobody is there, you can explain to your manager why that happened despite being notified."
I also had a diversion where the diversion station had a trainee answering the phone. After I told him about the diversion, he said, "Yeah. I think we can take them." Then I heard his trainer in the background say, "He wasn't asking, he was telling."
Airline policy for late nights flights if you use as an alternate you gotta get a hold of the station. Of course if nobody answers after going up the chain to the station mgr then you go to the next airport and if it causes a bumping pax issue I have no problems naming and shaming the unoccupied station on the recorded line when the gate agents ask why we bumped (number of pax).
It’s even more embarrassing when it’s a scheduled flight and nobody is working there. Remember that JetBlue flights to Rodchester Mn where despite it being a scheduled flight the gate agents all left so state cops had to be called and some angry station mgr got a call at midnight to come in and pull up a bridge.
gopherdx
Well-Known Member
Interesting. We have a department that handles the station side of things. The only time I’ll call a station for diversion planning is if the aircraft has an APU INOP or something like that. If the alternate is in the C070 and meets C055, I’m using it. If they get there and they can’t support, well then the company needs to figure out how to avoid this situation in the future. A dispatcher’s main job is safety, so if that alternate is the only safe one we have the fuel for, send it!
I think every UA Express partner requires it or it may even go to mainline too
autosave36
Go High Go Fast and Hold.
I think it's certainly a good idea at night to let them know that they are the alternate. Generally, if I'm getting to my destination around the time that they get their last flight, or later, I'm calling them. At the regional we had a nightly flight to YUL, where we typically listed BTV as an alternate to give them a place in the USA to divert to so they don't have to pass through customs. BTV station got sick of having to stay every night for virtually zero probability of an actual divert so we ended up cutting them a deal that if we called them, they could leave and go to the local applebees and get food or whatever, as long as if we call them about a divert they are back in time to handle the plane.
