Flagship_dxer
Penske Material
Commuting sucks. People outside of aviation will look at you like you are crazy. No other industry can people live in California and work all your days in New York. Most people live where they are employed. Even most road warrior business travelers are officially employed where they live. Only airline people really live so far away from where they work.
I know of some commuters that fly to and from work every single work day. That takes a commute like DCA-LGA where you have a lot of flights on a short leg. GRK-DFW sees a number of daily commuters at AA/AE.
Riding the cockpit jumpseat is a frequent commuter occurrence. It is awesome the first time you jumpseat but quickly gets old. The jumpseats even on many large aircraft are cramped and you feel (and are) in the pilots way. They bump into you when doing their checklists, grabbing the phone to talk to the FA, and several other times. It is cramped and there isnt a way to change it really for most of the flight. Jumpseats on EMB145 and CRJ2 or smaller get easily weight and balance restricted. A passenger farts and the excess gas makes the CRJ200 overweight and out of CG limits.
Many pilots have ZERO clue dispatchers can jumpseat. Run into the wrong crew that wont read their manual, doesnt understand the manual and you can get left behind by a crew.
Your jumpseat priority at your own airline is behind pilots and then company seniority usually. Some places do first come first served but most do seniority for the jumpseat for online jumpseating. Pilots will bump you online and offline. Though most companies are first come, first served for offline jumpseaters. Some captains might take offense to a dispatcher trying to bump an ALPA pilot and take him over you regardless of seniority or first come, first served.
Getting a seat in the back anywhere is tough. Flight loads are very high. Even when non-reving for leisure travel, I find myself on the jumpseat since loads are high. When weather is bad or there is a maintenance or ATC isue, flights get delayed or cancel and passengers get re-booked on other flights. A flight that looks wide open is always a prime candidate for re-booked passengers. Other airlines will protect passengers on competitors in case of weather, mechanicals so its not just the airline you are on you need to concern yourself with. You might want to go to Atlanta but the American flight to Miami had a maintenance issue so American sent its passengers to the Delta flight to Atlanta.
Other airline workers get very jealous at dispatchers. We dont have uniforms and many of them dont know we can jumpseat. Some gate agents will think you cant jumpseat. Other workers will get very upset when they have been waiting days for a flight and you show up 45 mins before departure and get on the flight. They expect a pilot can jumpseat but it comes as an unpleasant surprise when they find out dispatch can too.
You will lose most of your social life and be always on the road commuting. Dispatch normal schedule is 4 on 3 off. But you commute normally on day 1 and 3 of your days off so you really have 1 full day at home. You will feel married to aviation and your job. If you pick up OT, you will have fewer days off. If you trade shifts, you will need to pay them back at a later date so less time for commuting then. You will rarely see your friends outside of work. They wont understand the lifestyle and you wont be available for most of their events.
You will miss even more birthdays, Christmas, and events then as a live in base dispatcher. Even if a dispatcher has to work those days, they can still be at home those days if they dont commute. If you commute, you wont see any of your family and friends on holidays.
I wouldnt do the commuting thing again. Crashpads suck for the most part. You usually share a bathroom and all the living areas with half dozen or more people. Even at the best crashpad, you run into issues with personalities clashing. Crashpads arent even that nice for pilots but suck for dispatchers.
If you live in base, if gives you flexibility. Your whole life isnt taken up by time in airports and looking at all the backup options. You dont worry about weather effecting hubs and your destination on your days off. It makes your life a lot less work and more time to do other things.
I know of some commuters that fly to and from work every single work day. That takes a commute like DCA-LGA where you have a lot of flights on a short leg. GRK-DFW sees a number of daily commuters at AA/AE.
Riding the cockpit jumpseat is a frequent commuter occurrence. It is awesome the first time you jumpseat but quickly gets old. The jumpseats even on many large aircraft are cramped and you feel (and are) in the pilots way. They bump into you when doing their checklists, grabbing the phone to talk to the FA, and several other times. It is cramped and there isnt a way to change it really for most of the flight. Jumpseats on EMB145 and CRJ2 or smaller get easily weight and balance restricted. A passenger farts and the excess gas makes the CRJ200 overweight and out of CG limits.
Many pilots have ZERO clue dispatchers can jumpseat. Run into the wrong crew that wont read their manual, doesnt understand the manual and you can get left behind by a crew.
Your jumpseat priority at your own airline is behind pilots and then company seniority usually. Some places do first come first served but most do seniority for the jumpseat for online jumpseating. Pilots will bump you online and offline. Though most companies are first come, first served for offline jumpseaters. Some captains might take offense to a dispatcher trying to bump an ALPA pilot and take him over you regardless of seniority or first come, first served.
Getting a seat in the back anywhere is tough. Flight loads are very high. Even when non-reving for leisure travel, I find myself on the jumpseat since loads are high. When weather is bad or there is a maintenance or ATC isue, flights get delayed or cancel and passengers get re-booked on other flights. A flight that looks wide open is always a prime candidate for re-booked passengers. Other airlines will protect passengers on competitors in case of weather, mechanicals so its not just the airline you are on you need to concern yourself with. You might want to go to Atlanta but the American flight to Miami had a maintenance issue so American sent its passengers to the Delta flight to Atlanta.
Other airline workers get very jealous at dispatchers. We dont have uniforms and many of them dont know we can jumpseat. Some gate agents will think you cant jumpseat. Other workers will get very upset when they have been waiting days for a flight and you show up 45 mins before departure and get on the flight. They expect a pilot can jumpseat but it comes as an unpleasant surprise when they find out dispatch can too.
You will lose most of your social life and be always on the road commuting. Dispatch normal schedule is 4 on 3 off. But you commute normally on day 1 and 3 of your days off so you really have 1 full day at home. You will feel married to aviation and your job. If you pick up OT, you will have fewer days off. If you trade shifts, you will need to pay them back at a later date so less time for commuting then. You will rarely see your friends outside of work. They wont understand the lifestyle and you wont be available for most of their events.
You will miss even more birthdays, Christmas, and events then as a live in base dispatcher. Even if a dispatcher has to work those days, they can still be at home those days if they dont commute. If you commute, you wont see any of your family and friends on holidays.
I wouldnt do the commuting thing again. Crashpads suck for the most part. You usually share a bathroom and all the living areas with half dozen or more people. Even at the best crashpad, you run into issues with personalities clashing. Crashpads arent even that nice for pilots but suck for dispatchers.
If you live in base, if gives you flexibility. Your whole life isnt taken up by time in airports and looking at all the backup options. You dont worry about weather effecting hubs and your destination on your days off. It makes your life a lot less work and more time to do other things.
