Delta is posting next week

Well I figured I'd apply for this one. I applied back on the 5th, and no TBNT yet. I think it's probably a bit early for that though unless you clicked that you do not have your dispatch certificate.
 
Volunteer_Privateer said:
I currently work the ramp for Delta, but will be dispatch certified come October (23rd B-Day). End goal, obviously, is to dispatch with Delta. Should I embrace the suck for a few more years or should I pursue dispatch options at the regional level? I have no problem being "Mr. Delta" for a few years if it gets my to the OCC quicker. Just looking for outside opinions
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Get off the ramp. If not for a position in the SOC at Delta...for at least the dx experience....and for your HEALTH. I started at a major at 24 humping bags...got comfortable and came across dispatch late 30's. Ramp gives you a good view of the actual operation. But it's hell on the body. Being in your 20's by all means get off the ramp and into the SOC or get experience ASAP. Get your license. Dont get comfortable on the ramp. Get into the SOC at DL if you don't want to leave....or get the experience at a regional. You will be taking the chance of landing somewhere else if dispatching at a regional if a Major is the end goal. But they all pay more than well. Biggest diference may be culture and what region of the country you want to live in. You don't have to leave. I know of two internals at majors who are dispatching at the majors they started with. Both taken from within SOC and solid people.So if anything...get into the SOC and close to dispatch or experience. My older self would have advised my younger self of this early on when I was humping bags from SAL,GUA or MEX deep inside 800's. You do good work and you'll get noticed.

@MT could fill you in on Delta and perhaps any realistic expectations of getting in with them.
 
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Volunteer_Privateer said:
I currently work the ramp for Delta, but will be dispatch certified come October (23rd B-Day). End goal, obviously, is to dispatch with Delta. Should I embrace the suck for a few more years or should I pursue dispatch options at the regional level? I have no problem being "Mr. Delta" for a few years if it gets my to the OCC quicker. Just looking for outside opinions
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I was in a similar situation a few years ago at Delta. Working Hartsfield ramp, looking for way up through the company, heard about dispatch and got the ticket. This was before they offered their own certification course.

I stuck around for 8 or 9 months after getting certified and put in for one round of internal hiring. I was not selected for testing or interviewing. Conventional thinking, at the time, believed that only Performance Leaders, or Ramp Tower employees, were thought of as worthy dispatch candidates from the ramp environment. Maybe that has changed.

Fortunately, I was working under a younger, headier boss than most others, who wisely told me that, at my age (24 at the time) I would be stupid not to explore positions of greater responsibilities outside of the company. So I took my license across the street to ExpressJet, where all the lifers said I was stupid for leaving Delta. Well after cutting my teeth there for 18 months, I got the nod from SWA and the rest is history.

I can't advise of much on whether to leave or stay. Both are gambles that you have to calculate. I didn't stay, so I don't have any experiential wisdom about what staying can do for you. But, especially at your age, it is absolutely fair to wonder if you can leave Delta and make it up the dispatch ranks far sooner than you will make it into the OCC at Delta in any capacity, let alone dispatch specifically. I am an Atlanta native, probably the only person on this forum that loves Atlanta-proper very much, but I'm not applying to go back.
 
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Volunteer_Privateer said:
I currently work the ramp for Delta, but will be dispatch certified come October (23rd B-Day). End goal, obviously, is to dispatch with Delta. Should I embrace the suck for a few more years or should I pursue dispatch options at the regional level? I have no problem being "Mr. Delta" for a few years if it gets my to the OCC quicker. Just looking for outside opinions
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First off, why ask here? If you’re a a Delta employee, then you’re in a perfect position to make contact with the people who have the answers you seek.

That said, the body of evidence thusfar indicates that Delta rarely hires external candidates, and the candidates they hire have no experience, as Delta seemingly prefers to grow their own. If your goal is to be a DELTA dispatcher, then logically, your way forward is to stay with the company.

But that does not mean that you have to “embrace the suck” as you put it. Anything more than 2 to 3 years on the ramp is wasting your time. A ramper job is entry level. You should be striving to move beyond that regardless of your goal. Building a career with Delta is more likely to get you where you want to go than just holding down a job.

And be patient; the one Delta dispatcher I’ve met was with the company 25 years, and held numerous supervisory positions BEFORE he got into Dispatch. Even if you spend a decade doing other things, you could still have a 30+ year dispatch career.
 
av8or757 said:
When you say lifer...like he made the choice to be at a regional for a long time and suddenly wants to get to a major ? Or he's been trying and just hasn't gotten on with a major.
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Regional for a long time, ops controller/router, check dispatcher, but at a UA regional carrier.
 
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