Much Push-back?

BeReal

BeReal

Well-Known Member
Hi All,

I'm considering DX school and have spent hours reading posts on this forum. I haven't seen much written about this, so maybe it's not a problem. I think I'd love this career unless...

...there is often push-back from HQ, Accounting, gate agents, captains, etc., to compromise judgment; or

...as I saw mentioned on the pilots' forum, DXs for struggling regionals are expected to send out 50-60 flights in 10 hours, making it impossible to do the job well.

One other practical question: Who watches your flights when you go to lunch or the B'room?

Thanks in advance for any input. :applause:
 
Well I can say after working in this field 15 years that I have never had to argue with accounting or gate agents. The one thing you will learn real quick in this career is that you have to be able to justify why you did something a certain way. As long as it is not against the FAR's or company policy, then IMO all's anyone can do is ask why. You have to have a logical answer.

The biggest question I always hear about is - Why did you put 3000 lbs of fuel on were as Dispatcher Joe next to you only put 2000 lbs for basically the same city pair. It all comes down to experience, there are other factors but ones experience is why.

I don't expect a new dispatcher to be able to do the things that I can do. Period. It just isn't going to happen.

Even dispatchers at major airlines can do 50-60 flights in 10 hours. I know I have. Are you busy yes, but it can be done safely. I am referring to domestic flights only. I guarantee your time management skills will improve significantly.

For the most part, you eat at your desk - at least that is what I have always done. If a dispatcher needs to take a break, he officially turns his flight over to another dispatcher for that time frame.

Hope that helps and welcome to the site.
 
Forgot to add, there will be times that a CA will call and ask you - can you do this or did you think about that, can we reduce the fuel, I want more fuel. The CA only sees the product of your work, not the logic as to how you derived at that solution. Thus alot of times they would like to hear that portion of it. Nothing wrong with that as it helps them understand how you came to that outcome. It also gives you credibility the next time that CA sees your name, which is always a good thing.
 
Thanks for your response. That's exactly what I wanted to hear - that whatever is expected of a DX can be done safely, and if you have a logical reason for doing something, there's not a lot of contention. I thrive on multi-tasking. When I get into a rhythm, it's a kick! I just take the safety thing really seriously and wouldn't sleep well if I couldn't feel like I was able to do it right.

I look forward to hearing others' experiences.
 
50-60?? That's average and a pretty good number. At my Airline we were understaffed, technically still are I believe while in the process of moving to ATL. But there were a few days back in June that I had done 92-96 flights. Now that is absurd. 50 to 60 yes, 90-100 no. You just can't flight follow at all. Your just cutting flight plans all day non stop. Now that's we've got new people coming in and getting checked out it's helping immensely. Tuesdays are nice as of late. Last week I had 44 and today 47. Makes for a decent Friday for me :-) even though had to deal with ORD and airports west getting slammed this morning.
 
Whoa! I'm probably clueless since I don't even have any training yet, but that's less than 7 minutes per flight. Hopefully, computers are helping you with all that 'cuz I can't fathom checking weather, alternate airports, fueling, etc., in less than 7 minutes. Glad to hear you're getting some help lately.
 
BeReal said:
Whoa! I'm probably clueless since I don't even have any training yet, but that's less than 7 minutes per flight. Hopefully, computers are helping you with all that 'cuz I can't fathom checking weather, alternate airports, fueling, etc., in less than 7 minutes. Glad to hear you're getting some help lately.
Click to expand...

I can't speak for PHL_Approach, but computers are probably in wide use pretty much every where and do a big part of the number crunching plus make things like access to weather, NOTAMs, etc very simple. You'd be surprised how smooth and boring a VFR day can get in this business (but that's a good thing). On days like that your challenge is to not get complacent. Andas F9 pointed out, as long as you can justify a decision (and your justification is reasonable) you'll be fine. If you're putting alternates on every release going someplace where the TFR calls for 10SM CLR all day, you might have problems.
 
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