Compensation for new dispatchers

[Victor's_Vector]

If any career dispatchers are good enough to help, I'd be grateful for your insight on the primary reason(s) why compensation for initial opportunities in dispatch - Part 121 regional airlines in particular - is so...modest.
- Simple supply & demand? (Many certified dispatchers & few positions?)
- Significant "cookie cutter" nature to entry-level positions (i.e., relatively simple usage of established spreadsheets & procedures a majority of the time), with senior dispatchers & managers/supervisors doing the real decision-making during IROP periods?
- Do many people earn the ADX certification only to not make it once actually employed, so airlines hire at modest pay and then give meaningful raises once new dispatchers prove themselves?
- Other factors??

I don't mean to whine/complain - some things simply are what they are and one has to take it or leave it (and I know compensation improves significantly for dispatchers at legacy & major/LCC carriers) - but, right now, it seems entirely possible to me that I'm missing significant aspects of the essence of the dispatcher role in Part 121; it's odd to me that someone with joint responsibility for safety & operational control of the flying public would be paid as early-career dispatchers are currently compensated.

 

[fuelerdx]

If any career dispatchers are good enough to help, I'd be grateful for your insight on the primary reason(s) why compensation for initial opportunities in dispatch - Part 121 regional airlines in particular - is so...modest.
- Simple supply & demand? (Many certified dispatchers & few positions?)
- Significant "cookie cutter" nature to entry-level positions (i.e., relatively simple usage of established spreadsheets & procedures a majority of the time), with senior dispatchers & managers/supervisors doing the real decision-making during IROP periods?
- Do many people earn the ADX certification only to not make it once actually employed, so airlines hire at modest pay and then give meaningful raises once new dispatchers prove themselves?
- Other factors??

I don't mean to whine/complain - some things simply are what they are and one has to take it or leave it (and I know compensation improves significantly for dispatchers at legacy & major/LCC carriers) - but, right now, it seems entirely possible to me that I'm missing significant aspects of the essence of the dispatcher role in Part 121; it's odd to me that someone with joint responsibility for safety & operational control of the flying public would be paid as early-career dispatchers are currently compensated.

It's an entry level job with entry level wages.

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[Victor's_Vector]

It's an entry level job with entry level wages.

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McDonald's is an "entry level job with entry level wages." Joint operational control for 500+ passengers simultaneously seems fundamentally different. If you're a career dispatcher, I remain interested in learning more about WHY the compensation is as it is for early-career dispatchers.

 

[Altimeter]

Regionals get contracts based on cost to operate/prior performance. They have to bid low to win contracts. They need cheap overhead to keep costs low.

 

[fuelerdx]

McDonald's is an "entry level job with entry level wages." Joint operational control for 500+ passengers simultaneously seems fundamentally different. If you're a career dispatcher, I remain interested in learn more about WHY the compensation is as it is for early-career dispatchers.

And Regionald pay roughly twice that and offer flight benefits. With a huge supply of licensed dispatchers and the regional model itself, it will never change.

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[Victor's_Vector]

Regionals get contracts based on cost to operate/prior performance. They have to bid low to win contracts. They need cheap overhead to keep costs low.

I understand the regional airline business model well, but - given the critical responsibilities of a dispatcher - I'm surprised this is a role where it brings value to hire the lowest bidder, rather than a capable individual.

 

[Dart_8992]

And Regionald pay roughly twice that and offer flight benefits. With a huge supply of licensed dispatchers and the regional model itself, it will never change.

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How long before even the Majors stop paying as much as they do? Everytime a major starts hiring, they get 500+ applications for a 10 person class. Supply and demand right? How much longer do we think we will keep getting better contracts at the Majors? Why pay you $150,000 when they can pay someone from express jet $75,000 and still be doubling their current salary.

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[Victor's_Vector]

And Regionald pay roughly twice that and offer flight benefits. With a huge supply of licensed dispatchers and the regional model itself, it will never change.

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Thanks much

 

[Victor's_Vector]

How long before even the Majors stop paying as much as they do? Everytime a major starts hiring, they get 500+ applications for a 10 person class. Supply and demand right? How much longer do we think we will keep getting better contracts at the Majors? Why pay you $150,000 when they can pay someone from express jet $75,000 and still be doubling their current salary.

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Most legacies and majors/LCC's are business-savvy enough to see the dispatcher role as one where a capable individual can bring considerable value to their company, so they don't want to hire the lowest bidder to simply fill a position. Why don't regional airlines take this same approach? What checks-and-balances do regionals have in place to prevent the lowest bidder from jeopardizing the safety, operational & financial performance of their operation? Why don't the legacies and majors/LCC's follow these same practices if it will allow them to reduce labor costs for dispatchers in a way that brings value to their company?

I'm asking this question from the perspective of wanting to learn more about the essence of the dispatcher role, as there's a significant disconnect between the legal roles & responsibilities of the dispatch role in Part 121 and the compensation at the regional airline level. Why is that?

 

[fuelerdx]

How long before even the Majors stop paying as much as they do? Everytime a major starts hiring, they get 500+ applications for a 10 person class. Supply and demand right? How much longer do we think we will keep getting better contracts at the Majors? Why pay you $150,000 when they can pay someone from express jet $75,000 and still be doubling their current salary.

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Unions make things muddy, but majors are vastly overpaid. What changed to make their compensation skyrocket so much in the past years. Yes its an important position and deserves a fair salary but it isn't rocket science. People always think they deserve more pay but don't realize that in other industries its an entry level wage. Teachers, Police, EMS start at similar wages and have VERY important jobs with huge responsibilities.

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[azmedic]

It's a 12 week certificate at most DX schools across the US,no degree required,no experience required. Just a pulse and money for tuition. Most people that end up at majors have a) a degree of 4 years of more b) experience as a sector supervisor/duty manager,etc and c) have networked extensively with folks at majors.


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[who'swho]

It's a 12 week certificate at most DX schools across the US,no degree required,no experience required. Just a pulse and money for tuition. Most people that end up at majors have a) a degree of 4 years of more b) experience as a sector supervisor/duty manager,etc and c) have networked extensively with folks at majors.


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So what you're saying is... it's all about those connections! Well, and your widget worship skills when it comes to getting a job at a major in ATL.

 

[azmedic]

So what you're saying is... it's all about those connections! Well, and your widget worship skills when it comes to getting a job at a major in ATL.

Only at Enovy


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[manniax]

Unions make things muddy, but majors are vastly overpaid.

That's one way to look at it. Another way is to say that regional dispatchers are vastly underpaid.

 

[fuelerdx]

That's one way to look at it. Another way is to say that regional dispatchers are vastly underpaid.

It's both.

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[PHL_Approach]

Most people that end up at majors have a) a degree of 4 years of more b) experience as a sector supervisor/duty manager,etc and c) have networked extensively with folks at majors.

I guess I consider myself lucky. I didn’t have any of those going for me. Wasn’t internal either.

 

[CRJInTheHeartOfTexas]

Majors are way overpaid and it blows my mind someone making that kind of money just says more more more

 

[McCrosky]

My $.02.

The regional dispatchers are vastly underpaid because the job changed p, slowly seem,times, swiftly st other times, and they weren’t brought along.

For instance, the knowledge base and requirements to get a plane from a traditional regional city pair was much lower than that of the “majors” back in the day. What I mean is, dispatching an airplane from ATL to CSG was much less complex than from ATL to LAX. Just from a knowledge of navigation and en route peculiarities to watching a continent worth of weather versus a few hundred miles. Adding an ocean crossing or crossing several borders and it was expontially more complex.

Then, one day while no one was looking, the regionals ceased being “regional”. For example, suddenly Atlantic Southeast Airlines went from turboprops across a hour from base to flying across the plains states, and the west coast. And doing 2+ hour legs. The pay for knowledge level got left behind. Add the influx of certificates airmen sold on a 6 figure income.. well. Suddenly supply is high. We “dumbed job down” to button pushing in the eyes of CEOs and FAA. And poof. Here we are.

The industry changed, and there was no mechanism for the position to change with it at the regional level. And unfortunately, the only way real change happens in commercial aviation requires a catastrophic event.

The Majors are managing to keep up with the knowledge/pay curve because they can. The regionals, again, are unfortunately and unfairly left behind. It’s not just the dispatchers, it the whole organization.

Again, just my opinion.

 

[flyingmedic]

It was summized superbly above. This job requires the same prerequisite to achieve as the person asking you if you’d like fries with that. In fact, occasionally that order taker will have a degree, it is FAR and few DXers who do. In over 20 years I’ve met a handful who weren’t Management that held any degree. It’s rare to find a pilot license amongst the group. All that and people want to come into the field making 50K. So doesn’t the business grad taking your order. It’s human nature.....maximize reward, minimal effort. Not for everyone, certainly. But most.

 

[McCrosky]

It was summized superbly above. This job requires the same prerequisite to achieve as the person asking you if you’d like fries with that. In fact, occasionally that order taker will have a degree, it is FAR and few DXers who do. In over 20 years I’ve met a handful who weren’t Management that held any degree. It’s rare to find a pilot license amongst the group. All that and people want to come into the field making 50K. So doesn’t the business grad taking your order. It’s human nature.....maximize reward, minimal effort. Not for everyone, certainly. But most.

Roughly 40% of my dispatch office holds, or has held a private or higher rating. About 70% have 4 year degrees. ou need to meet more dispatchers... check the local bars! We know where the best happy hour specials are.... it’s all’s e can afford