AA Updates
- Thread starter Flagship_dxer
- Start date
4
45-50 releases on an 8 hour shift? Where do I sign up? that's a Christmas on a Saturday number for us. Try 80-90 a shift.
45-50 releases on an 8 hour shift? Where do I sign up? that's a Christmas on a Saturday number for us. Try 80-90 a shift.
Sounds like you work at SWA which system do you work with
Thanks meant dispatch software
haDo you mean what dispatch software, or are you mean which "side", Southwest or Airtran?
Answer to question one is we use a home brew system called SWIFT.
Answer to two is WN.
just_blaze
Well-Known Member
Can someone expand on the Planning Unit philosophy?
Excellent, on both accounts. But it begs the question, why are we moving to DFW again? Don't get me wrong, I'd move to Guantanamo Bay if it meant getting out of PIT, but here sits a nice new building with room to knock out a wall and add a bunch more people.
The Planning Unit thing is nice. All of our aircraft are separated into 4 units. 321s are in this unit, 757s in that unit.....it doesn't matter for the point of this discussion, and they are all changing soon anyway. Each unit has within it a Dispatch Coordinator, crew scheduling person, customer service person, aircraft router, and maintenance planner. From an operational standpoint it's nice because you have everyone you would want on your team working on whatever problem comes up. It's also nice because with things split up by aircraft type instead of city pairs or hubs the load is spread around when things go to hell. When PHL is getting hammered with a winter storm, you don't have one unit that becomes over loaded to the point it can't function effectively. It allows us to recover from a bad day very quickly.
As a dispatcher it's nice because you have that same team working on your side. If planes need swapped or flights need cancelled, the dispatch coordinator in the unit coordinates that with everyone else in the unit then informs the dispatcher.
The Planning Unit thing is nice. All of our aircraft are separated into 4 units. 321s are in this unit, 757s in that unit.....it doesn't matter for the point of this discussion, and they are all changing soon anyway. Each unit has within it a Dispatch Coordinator, crew scheduling person, customer service person, aircraft router, and maintenance planner. From an operational standpoint it's nice because you have everyone you would want on your team working on whatever problem comes up. It's also nice because with things split up by aircraft type instead of city pairs or hubs the load is spread around when things go to hell. When PHL is getting hammered with a winter storm, you don't have one unit that becomes over loaded to the point it can't function effectively. It allows us to recover from a bad day very quickly.
As a dispatcher it's nice because you have that same team working on your side. If planes need swapped or flights need cancelled, the dispatch coordinator in the unit coordinates that with everyone else in the unit then informs the dispatcher.
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PBR me ASAP
Well-Known Member
How does the 9hr 37min shift at US work?
Very well, but we're scheduled for 9.5 hours, 4-2-4-4. Not sure where the 9hr 37min came from. PM me if you want more details on the 9.5 schedule, I'm not going into it on a public forum. Even if you're working 8 hours already, you're there, what's another hour for the benefit of driving into work however many fewer days a month / year that works out to be?
Last I heard, we're working on a combined 4-4 schedule with rotating days off with AA. It they think the majority of us are going to get down there for a 6-day work week, they're insane.
Last I heard, we're working on a combined 4-4 schedule with rotating days off with AA. It they think the majority of us are going to get down there for a 6-day work week, they're insane.
just_blaze
Well-Known Member
6 on 3 off 6 on 3 off 6 on 6 off with rotating am/pm/night 8 hour shifts.
Edit: Ok, my smiley worked, good.
I could probably get used to a 6-3, 6-3, 6-6 rotation but rotating through mornings, afternoons, and midnights just sounds miserable. That has to wreak havoc on your body. We have enough folks who wanted them that we have steady midnight lines. It's great for us night owls. Plus I'd rather stay up all night than get up at 0300 anyway.
Occasionally a relief dispatcher gets thrown on a midnight shift to cover vacations or classes but that's a gamble they are willing to take when bidding a relief line.
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manniax
Well-met in the Ka-tet
The trouble with 6 on is if you work overtime it's generally a 7-day stretch. While I know this isn't a violation of the regs, some FAA people seem to think that you can't be scheduled for more than 6 in a row. Even if the FAA doesn't care, 7 days in a row is a lot of days to work just for one day of OT. I agree, though, getting almost a week off every three weeks does sound sweet.
Flagship_dxer
Penske Material
Shifts will likely have to rotate to get an agreement and days off. The reason why AA has the rotation the way it does is because of how many large groups were hired all at once and the fact that someone with decades of experience would get a bad schedule simply because of relative seniority. Some at AA would like to stop the shift rotations but given how low in seniority a couple decades makes you it makes sense the way AA decided to do it.
AA has a lot more midnights desks than US does. 8 domestic midnighters cover 16 desks and set up three desks for the morning, 4 Euro/Asia, and a few Latin America/Caribbean midnight desks.
AA has a lot of late night domestic flights that leave the west coast for places like BOS/IAD/JFK/MIA/BNA/BDL. There are also a lot of overnight flights that fly routes such as LAX/SFO/PDX/SEA to DFW/ORD and a DEN-MIA overnight flight.
AA doesnt segregate planes by desk or by geographic region. It puts whole city pairs on a desk all day.The two transcon desks have pretty much every type AA flies on them for each shift. If JFK-MIA is on your desk you can easily have a B737 followed by a B767 and B757 then maybe a MD80 followed by a B777. At US, you wont have a desk that has that kind of fleet variety.
I think some hybrid system will be put in place. AA does too much domestic widebody and large narrow body flying presently to have the international desks handle the larger types on all their domestic legs.
Likewise, AA signs all new hires off on one of the international divisions. Almost all the AA junior dispatchers will be internationally qualified during the integration in at least one of the divisions with most being Euro/Asia qualified. US requires a two year commitment and for new hires to wait before being able to move into the international side. AA uses the new hires for international relief. A relief dispatcher can easily work an international desk on Monday and domestic on Tuesday especially when there are sick calls.
AA has a lot more midnights desks than US does. 8 domestic midnighters cover 16 desks and set up three desks for the morning, 4 Euro/Asia, and a few Latin America/Caribbean midnight desks.
AA has a lot of late night domestic flights that leave the west coast for places like BOS/IAD/JFK/MIA/BNA/BDL. There are also a lot of overnight flights that fly routes such as LAX/SFO/PDX/SEA to DFW/ORD and a DEN-MIA overnight flight.
AA doesnt segregate planes by desk or by geographic region. It puts whole city pairs on a desk all day.The two transcon desks have pretty much every type AA flies on them for each shift. If JFK-MIA is on your desk you can easily have a B737 followed by a B767 and B757 then maybe a MD80 followed by a B777. At US, you wont have a desk that has that kind of fleet variety.
I think some hybrid system will be put in place. AA does too much domestic widebody and large narrow body flying presently to have the international desks handle the larger types on all their domestic legs.
Likewise, AA signs all new hires off on one of the international divisions. Almost all the AA junior dispatchers will be internationally qualified during the integration in at least one of the divisions with most being Euro/Asia qualified. US requires a two year commitment and for new hires to wait before being able to move into the international side. AA uses the new hires for international relief. A relief dispatcher can easily work an international desk on Monday and domestic on Tuesday especially when there are sick calls.
A few comments on this.
1. As was mentioned the midnight shift goes very senior at US Airways. There are a lot of people that would be upset if they go full rotating because then it would cause a lot of senior guys who want to work overnight to work other shifts and it would also upset a lot of the junior people who would now be forced to work overnight shifts when they werent before.
2. USAirways does have a rotating schedule right now for the non midnight lines, meaning you will be scheduled 4 mornings and 4 evenings in an 14 day period. A lot of guys at USAirways have permanent trade partners though, which means if two dispatchers have similar schedules but one wants all mornings and the other all evenings, they will become permanent trade partners so the morning guy gives the evening call all his evening shifts and vice versa. It works really well for the guys who do it.
3. Believe it or not, domestically USAirways operates more red eye flights than AA does. I found this surprising as well but this came from a powerpoint slide put out by AA Route Planning a couple of months ago. AA has a couple of short red eyes to DFW, a handful from LAX, and that is about it. USAirways runs a few red eyes out of PHX, but they run a ton of Red Eyes into both PHL and CLT from all the major west coast markets. I also believe USAirways operates more flights to Europe than AA, but AA flying to Asia and US doesn't kind of makes up for that. If the domestic redeye situation stays the same at the combined carrier, you would be looking at most at needing 6-7 overnight desks domestically.
4. USAirways doesn't segregate planes by geographic region or AC type either. It is possible to get a desk with all three A320 types, a 737 and an E190. Additionally no city pair is attached to any one desk. Meaning that a common flight like PHL-BOS could have six different flights and each of those be worked by a different desk. The only factor in desk assignment at USAirways is workload balance, as the concept is each desk should have about the same workload. You will get every type of flight possible on your desk and often do. If you work international, you could conceivably work every type in the fleet on one shift.
5. AA really doesn't operate that many domestic widebodies anymore. The 767-200s are being replaced by the A321s and off the top of my head aside from an occasional hub to hub flight, I can't think of anywhere else outside the JFK-West coast market where they are used. I do think however that giving the large 757 fleet that remains and that it does quite a bit of domestic flying that the 757s could be moved back to domestic after the merger. I still think all the other widebodies will stay international.
6.There is no requirement at all at US to be there two years prior to going international. The way it works is on the bids for the even number years, you can bid either domestic or international and are awarded whatever your seniority allows. If you are awarded international, you must stay international for two years. If an opening comes up prior to a bid, you can bid on it if you are a qualified dispatcher. The only requirement is that you have finished training as a domestic dispatcher prior to starting international training. The only positions that have a prereq time wise are the select positions (AOM, ANM, EOM, ATC, Unit Coordinator, Trainer), and you have to have three years seniority prior to putting in for any of those positions (Trainer requires six)
1. As was mentioned the midnight shift goes very senior at US Airways. There are a lot of people that would be upset if they go full rotating because then it would cause a lot of senior guys who want to work overnight to work other shifts and it would also upset a lot of the junior people who would now be forced to work overnight shifts when they werent before.
2. USAirways does have a rotating schedule right now for the non midnight lines, meaning you will be scheduled 4 mornings and 4 evenings in an 14 day period. A lot of guys at USAirways have permanent trade partners though, which means if two dispatchers have similar schedules but one wants all mornings and the other all evenings, they will become permanent trade partners so the morning guy gives the evening call all his evening shifts and vice versa. It works really well for the guys who do it.
3. Believe it or not, domestically USAirways operates more red eye flights than AA does. I found this surprising as well but this came from a powerpoint slide put out by AA Route Planning a couple of months ago. AA has a couple of short red eyes to DFW, a handful from LAX, and that is about it. USAirways runs a few red eyes out of PHX, but they run a ton of Red Eyes into both PHL and CLT from all the major west coast markets. I also believe USAirways operates more flights to Europe than AA, but AA flying to Asia and US doesn't kind of makes up for that. If the domestic redeye situation stays the same at the combined carrier, you would be looking at most at needing 6-7 overnight desks domestically.
4. USAirways doesn't segregate planes by geographic region or AC type either. It is possible to get a desk with all three A320 types, a 737 and an E190. Additionally no city pair is attached to any one desk. Meaning that a common flight like PHL-BOS could have six different flights and each of those be worked by a different desk. The only factor in desk assignment at USAirways is workload balance, as the concept is each desk should have about the same workload. You will get every type of flight possible on your desk and often do. If you work international, you could conceivably work every type in the fleet on one shift.
5. AA really doesn't operate that many domestic widebodies anymore. The 767-200s are being replaced by the A321s and off the top of my head aside from an occasional hub to hub flight, I can't think of anywhere else outside the JFK-West coast market where they are used. I do think however that giving the large 757 fleet that remains and that it does quite a bit of domestic flying that the 757s could be moved back to domestic after the merger. I still think all the other widebodies will stay international.
6.There is no requirement at all at US to be there two years prior to going international. The way it works is on the bids for the even number years, you can bid either domestic or international and are awarded whatever your seniority allows. If you are awarded international, you must stay international for two years. If an opening comes up prior to a bid, you can bid on it if you are a qualified dispatcher. The only requirement is that you have finished training as a domestic dispatcher prior to starting international training. The only positions that have a prereq time wise are the select positions (AOM, ANM, EOM, ATC, Unit Coordinator, Trainer), and you have to have three years seniority prior to putting in for any of those positions (Trainer requires six)
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