I’d say it’s the karma that Ken deserves if he starts getting workload ASAPs filed on him because of this.
Club Furlough
- Thread starter paincorp
- Start date
94 including 4 trainees that were less than a week from comp check. Two of those 94 were at LIFT but still on the seniority list.
34 walked, 14 approved for leave, and at least one retired from what I was told. So they’ve lost a combined 49 people for the next few months at least.
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Wow!! How many flights did you usually have on the desks before the rona and now?
Would be 45-55 on a desk, up to 14 in one bad hour, and when I left it was 4 in a whole shift.
Don’t forget we have a yearly vaccine for influenza that is about 40-50% effective. Hundreds of thousands of people die each year from the flu.
who'swho
Don't hesitate. Penetrate!
I think you meant tens of thousands...
How intensive was the process to send a flight?
ATLiens
Well-Known Member
and CDC says less than 50% of people in America get the flu shot. Less people would die if more people took it. although not all.
if they could get the cornavirus deaths on par with with the seasonal flu this would be wonderful. It would be even better since this virus mostly doesn’t kill children. The flu is more dangerous to young children.
I’m not sure what you mean by that. We still have MEL’s, MTOW and MLW need to be calculated and the route determined, then all the fuel and etc.
KiloEchoVictor
Well-Known Member
Have seen this going around... No mention of the furlough at all. Maybe the reporter is just unaware but it wouldn't be hard for the media to figure things out
Jumpinthedog
Well-Known Member
This is my current position in a major trying to get a straightforward path. I think the part your missing is the performance reviews, familiarity with the company's operation and lack of bad habits. They can see years of work performance by their own standards and references that they probably know or have worked with. The employees often times work directly with dispatch, pilots, fms, releases etc. So they know the company's operation very well and know the effects of each action dispatch takes. The bad habits part is what i hear the most when i've job shadowed, apparently they have a lot of trouble unteaching habits regional hires picked up and with straight forward employees they can mold them the way they want as well as train potential hires their way while they're still working in their front line positions. In my experience most of us that are going for dispatch (at least the ones that have a chance) have aviation degrees, dispatch certification, job shadow their company's dispatch center often and have been working towards dispatch since day one. I've seen a lot of career ramp and customer service agents get dispatch certs but none of them have ever gotten a position. Plus i think the majors are pretty good at figuring out if a candidate has a good level of knowledge or not. It is a gamble for us too, we are working long hours, nights, weekends holidays and mandatory overtime but the company's seem to like hiring internally and tell us as much. Unfortunately for me it seems like i'll have wasted a few years of work because October is probably going to be ugly.
I would hope people going for dispatch have their dispatch certificate...
That being said, coming from a regional doesn’t mean you have bad habits, and I’ve talked to more than a few dispatchers at places that hire almost exclusively internal that they’re sick and tired of doing basic indoc every class. I’ve also seen more than a few people hired with glowing reviews from other departments end up being useless idiots once they get to training, so it goes both ways.
I think we all understand that being at a company means the hiring manager will be able to see your employment record with that company, but I’m also not expecting them to hire a ticket agent for dispatch over a qualified dispatcher that has experience. This is a safety sensitive position after all, and if we sacrifice on that belief, its a stepping stone to why companies should pay us less, and respect us less.
That being said, coming from a regional doesn’t mean you have bad habits, and I’ve talked to more than a few dispatchers at places that hire almost exclusively internal that they’re sick and tired of doing basic indoc every class. I’ve also seen more than a few people hired with glowing reviews from other departments end up being useless idiots once they get to training, so it goes both ways.
I think we all understand that being at a company means the hiring manager will be able to see your employment record with that company, but I’m also not expecting them to hire a ticket agent for dispatch over a qualified dispatcher that has experience. This is a safety sensitive position after all, and if we sacrifice on that belief, its a stepping stone to why companies should pay us less, and respect us less.
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Jumpinthedog
Well-Known Member
Well obviously, thats why they still hire from regionals but its a justification i have heard from the majors for direct internal hiring. As for safety the license you have is supposed to prove you can dispatch a flight safely, so that, passing the airlines tests and going through their training program should be sufficient on safety. Everyone applying is going to be a qualified dispatcher, those internal applicants also have relevant experience, hell im pretty sure southwest's ticket agents also have a flight planning role like most operations departments. If anything comments like that show why internal applicants may be more favorable, you will have to communicate with those people directly and not knowing their duties or level of knowledge may lead to some issues, besides any major training and probationary program should be competent enough to make a well testing applicant into a decent dispatcher with or without experience. If anything it makes sense to have your hiring classes a mix of company and external experience so your trainees can learn from each other as they learn the position.
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A license says you know the regs. Common sense and experience makes you safe. 121.619 says I can dispatch into +TSRA with no alternate, but that doesn’t make it safe or a good idea.
You’re also assuming those coming from regionals haven’t worked as a ramper or ticket agent. I have many co-workers who have worked in other capacities, myself included.
And no, ticket agents don’t do planning. Having been one, they issue tickets, assign seats, and scan people on. That isn’t planning. They aren’t figuring out how a route will be affected by weather, or where to divert if things go bad.
You’re also assuming those coming from regionals haven’t worked as a ramper or ticket agent. I have many co-workers who have worked in other capacities, myself included.
And no, ticket agents don’t do planning. Having been one, they issue tickets, assign seats, and scan people on. That isn’t planning. They aren’t figuring out how a route will be affected by weather, or where to divert if things go bad.
Luigi
Well-Known Member
So in your experience regional dispatchers have bad habits? I just wanted to make sure I got that right...
Can you list your experience for me again because clearly I missed a section on dispatch training. Also I’d love your opinion on the difference between a good dispatcher and a bad dispatcher.
CF34-3B1
Well-Known Member
Nah, you’re probably thinking of the position referred to as “ops agents.”
They send final weight and balance numbers to the crew along with checking people in and looking at bag counts and other stuff like that. BUT, more and more it seems like lately, a lot of them don’t even know what the numbers truly mean. Ex. “hey uh I’m over the MZFW on this flight so I was wondering if you are ok with less fuel?”
***I am not saying anything demeaning about them, just that I don’t count that as “flight planning,” and I find more and more I have to explain that it doesn’t matter if we have any gas at all it won’t solve their MZFW issue*** AND not all of them have trouble understanding what the numbers mean.They have their job and contribute to the operation. But I think you’re stretching it with the “also have a flight planning role” argument.
There are pros and cons to both sides...internal and external. Which is why *in my opinion* it’s a good idea to have a mix of both.
