Dispatcher Pay Spreadsheet

Bobber said:
It's great encouragement to get signed off. A 21% raise can be very motivating. There were people in the Feb class that comped out the same time as the April class... I spoke with them and they enjoyed traveling and taking their time. Why reward those people with full pay? It's a way for AA to recoup some costs while training new dispatchers. The same reasons pilots usually make nothing their first year.

The September class will start comp checking at the end of January, we will see if they will "drag it out" as others proposed. I personally believe they want to push out qualified dispatchers so they can JM them and move over junior dispatchers to international land.
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Sorry just want to clarify when you say push out, you mean push them through training quickly or push out as in drag out training taking even longer?

I would think it would be more motivational for a new hire to be treated and paid like they’re a full part of the company. No other legacies are doing reduced training pay. It comes across like the company pays less, as if to say they don’t have faith the individuals will get through training? Maybe not, but I could see it that way. They worked hard to get that spot at AA and most have put in their dues over time with regionals and such. The interviews are very competitive for legacies. I’d say they earned it. If AA had a set training schedule and assigned trainers, people would not be able to drag out their own training and take their time, making their own terms. Why punish hard workers for other people’s lack of motivation? I agree, it’s not motivational at all if the option to be serious, drill down and try to check out quickly is out of one’s hands.
 
Bobber said:
It's great encouragement to get signed off. A 21% raise can be very motivating. There were people in the Feb class that comped out the same time as the April class... I spoke with them and they enjoyed traveling and taking their time. Why reward those people with full pay? It's a way for AA to recoup some costs while training new dispatchers. The same reasons pilots usually make nothing their first year.

The September class will start comp checking at the end of January, we will see if they will "drag it out" as others proposed. I personally believe they want to push out qualified dispatchers so they can JM them and move over junior dispatchers to international land.
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why reward people with full pay? it’s not a “reward”, it’s compensation and uhh every other airline is trying to compensate their new hires. the only reason AA still gets applicants is because they pay more than regionals, but so does bucees so that’s not saying much

being paid less than your worth certainly is motivation to get signed off, but the company isn’t meeting them halfway. when they don’t compensate trainers enough to make it worth their time, it’s no wonder it’s taking people this long to get signed off
 
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TheFlyingNun said:
Sorry just want to clarify when you say push out, you mean push them through training quickly or push out as in drag out training taking even longer?
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Let me clarify. Staffing on international and ops coordinator midnights has been a challenge this year. However, domestic midnights usually are pretty well staffed. The current requirement to have two years experience working a domestic desk prior to international means that there is normally nobody available to move to an international desk when there are sick calls or classroom training. Most domestic midnighters have less than 2 years experience and when they gain the 2 years, most are able to bid an AM/PM line.

The TA reduces the international desk requirement to one year from date of dispatch hire. One way to increase the number of international qualified midnighters would be to have new hires go through international training in conjunction with new hire training. This would require training times to be around the one year mark to comply with the one year requirement. International training is normally around two to three months for Europe and Pacific desks.
 
iono said:
why reward people with full pay? it’s not a “reward”, it’s compensation and uhh every other airline is trying to compensate their new hires. the only reason AA still gets applicants is because they pay more than regionals …
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I’d say it’s more than just that. Apart from other valid reasons, I’d wager people like to say “I work at American”. The company could be going a different direction, but that won’t deter anyone. Someone here said when AA was going thru bankruptcy and reduce poverty wages, people were still lining up to get in. Even if training took 3 years with reduced pay, there won’t be a shortage of people applying to American anytime soon.
 
retrodx said:
I’d say it’s more than just that. Apart from other valid reasons, I’d wager people like to say “I work at American”. The company could be going a different direction, but that won’t deter anyone. Someone here said when AA was going thru bankruptcy and reduce poverty wages, people were still lining up to get in. Even if training took 3 years with reduced pay, there won’t be a shortage of people applying to American anytime soon.
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Its not just AA. SWA dispatch is going through the worst struggles in their history. A TA voted down by the membership, a work environment with dispatchers unhappy about being so long without a new contract, junior dispatchers that have a rough schedule, lowest current first year pay, highest number of hours worked and they still have plenty to fill their classes. No shortage of applicants.

UPS and FX have a large number of midnights given the cargo business. No shortage of applicants. UA has had quite a long time on junior schedules and no shortage there.

There just arent many options for dispatchers. 6 major career airlines at the moment with Jetblue/Spirit and Atlas trying to push their way upwards.
 
Flagship_dxer said:
Its not just AA. SWA dispatch is going through the worst struggles in their history. A TA voted down by the membership, a work environment with dispatchers unhappy about being so long without a new contract, junior dispatchers that have a rough schedule, lowest current first year pay, highest number of hours worked and they still have plenty to fill their classes. No shortage of applicants.

UPS and FX have a large number of midnights given the cargo business. No shortage of applicants. UA has had quite a long time on junior schedules and no shortage there.

There just arent many options for dispatchers. 6 major career airlines at the moment with Jetblue/Spirit and Atlas trying to push their way upwards.
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Yep, with the regionals churning out replacements there will ALWAYS be someone waiting in line to take that job at the next level.
 
who'swho said:
Yep, with the regionals churning out replacements there will ALWAYS be someone waiting in line to take that job at the next level.
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This is not to excuse current conditions with contracts and training though. That OJT environment at AA sounds abysmal considering the caliber of operation and image they carry. This along with what other airlines in the industry are doing, it’s fair to say AA can do better. But hey, I guess survival of the fittest and full pay motivation for the noobs.
 
retrodx said:
This is not to excuse current conditions with contracts and training though. That OJT environment at AA sounds abysmal considering the caliber of operation and image they carry. This along with what other airlines in the industry are doing, it’s fair to say AA can do better. But hey, I guess survival of the fittest and full pay motivation for the noobs.
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It’s all a shell game, the slight pain on the front end means the back end gets some kind of pay bump. Right or wrong, you spend more time topped out than in training. Though the UPS (another TWU carrier) contract specifies the length of time that they will make the lower percent. It aligns closely with the length of time it takes to get signed off, so better for sure.

I have to say though, when it comes to negotiations you have to look at where you are, where you want to be and figure out if the cost is worth it. Maybe AA dug their heels in on that, and so to change it they would have had to reduce something else pay related too much to be worth it. It’s never as easy as, “this is right so make the change” when money is involved.
 
Regionals might want to reconsider their pay, Frontier is interviewing at IFOD no experience necessary and Spirit plans to do something similar hiring direct out of schools. Frontier, Spirit, and Breeze are all viable options coming out of class, we'll see if Allegiant or Avelo make similar moves. Who wants to go to a regional when you can dispatch full size aircraft and make more money?
 
flynryan692 said:
Regionals might want to reconsider their pay, Frontier is interviewing at IFOD no experience necessary and Spirit plans to do something similar hiring direct out of schools. Frontier, Spirit, and Breeze are all viable options coming out of class, we'll see if Allegiant or Avelo make similar moves. Who wants to go to a regional when you can dispatch full size aircraft and make more money?
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Agreed. Im surprised now F9 willing to hire fresh dx. I was their internal staff for 2 years tried to get in with them, but they still said no, told me to get experience somewhere else and come back applying. I left and never wanted to return lol. But yea, it s good for new dx now, better pay and contract at ULCC than at regionals. But on the other hands, I felt like regionals spent more time on teaching new folks lots of basic knowledge, simply like reading notams and chart, meanwhile at ULCC they went faster as they assumed new hires should have experience already. I learnt a lot from my regionals experience.
 
CHICHI2711 said:
Agreed. Im surprised now F9 willing to hire fresh dx. I was their internal staff for 2 years tried to get in with them, but they still said no, told me to get experience somewhere else and come back applying. I left and never wanted to return lol. But yea, it s good for new dx now, better pay and contract at ULCC than at regionals. But on the other hands, I felt like regionals spent more time on teaching new folks lots of basic knowledge, simply like reading notams and chart, meanwhile at ULCC they went faster as they assumed new hires should have experience already. I learnt a lot from my regionals experience.
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Its the age old problem of when one method fails, try another. Regional dispatchers sometimes have problems with bringing bad habits with them. When this happens, majors start to hire internals and externals without experience that they can mold into what they want. When the inexperience causes problems, back to the experienced regionals they go. Every major does this at some point.

F9 isnt as big as the legacy majors so fewer internal options. That means hiring straight from dispatch school if they dont like the regional offerings and want a fresh mind to mold.
 
flynryan692 said:
Regionals might want to reconsider their pay, Frontier is interviewing at IFOD no experience necessary and Spirit plans to do something similar hiring direct out of schools. Frontier, Spirit, and Breeze are all viable options coming out of class, we'll see if Allegiant or Avelo make similar moves. Who wants to go to a regional when you can dispatch full size aircraft and make more money?
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Lol I remember back in the day you would have to put at least 2 years to be considered at the ULCC/Mid-major airlines. Regionals, probably gives u the best experience in my opinion, dealing with operation control, dealing with reroutes, holding patterns, convective activity, managing stress because you had 50 plus flights on your board . They got to pay more on the regional level.(Making 55-60k out of school for a 5-6 week course these days, not bad lol)
 
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So alaska is roughly 35/36hrs per week. Do you start getting paid overtime if you work past those hours, or does the overtime pay kick in only after the 40hr?
 
kddx said:
So alaska is roughly 35/36hrs per week. Do you start getting paid overtime if you work past those hours, or does the overtime pay kick in only after the 40hr?
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You get paid when you work, so if you trade around you could have a paycheck with no hours on it. You get overtime and double time pay when you are awarded those shifts.
 
I think what @kddx is asking is if you get paid overtime based on hours worked over your normal shift of 10 hours, or if overtime only starts accruing after you've hit 40 hours that week.

i.e., if you work 10 hours + 3 hours (overtime), then 10, 10, 10 in a given week, would you get 3 hours OT? Or would it be straight pay on the extra 3 hours due to it not hitting 40 hours.
 
karkland said:
I think what @kddx is asking is if you get paid overtime based on hours worked over your normal shift of 10 hours, or if overtime only starts accruing after you've hit 40 hours that week.

i.e., if you work 10 hours + 3 hours (overtime), then 10, 10, 10 in a given week, would you get 3 hours OT? Or would it be straight pay on the extra 3 hours due to it not hitting 40 hours.
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Yes, this is what I was asking. Apologies if I was unclear haha
 
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