Companies laying off dispatchers

[DispatcherWannabe]

Hello,

I am interested in becoming a dispatcher, but I'm afraid the job outlook isn't very good. I have a friend in St. Louis, (which is the closest bigger city for me,) who says Go Jet and Trans State airlines are both laying people off. Is this true?

 

[MT]

Um... I'd say the inverse is true for the industry. 50 seat RJ operators may be feeling the pinch as those airplanes come offline, but I'd say there is net demand for new dispatchers.

 

[pljenkins]

You will find no shortage of rhetoric when it comes to the demise or prosperity of the regional lines. The truth of the matter is, predicting what will happen to (insert name here) regional airline is a lot like a Denver TAF; usually wrong and constantly changing. What is true is there is a lot of hiring at the majors so there is a lot of movement in the regionals, which equates to more opportunity. This also helps to mitigate the need to furlough dispatchers, as attrition more then likely will work as an effective mechanism for force reduction. Bottom line is, don't buy into the rhetoric, but use it in conjunction with your research to make an educated decision, but above all don't be paralyzed into non decision and let opportunity pass you by. If your aspiration is to move on to bigger things, the regional you hook your wagon onto only needs to survive long enough to serve your purpose. Don't get too wrapped around the prop about the 10 year outlook of your regional when you only plan to be there for three.

 

[BayouMLU]

Didn't Trans States just get a bunch of airplanes?