PSA vs CommutAir?

Lots and lots of great advice in this forum, as always, and I appreciate everyone's replies. in the interviews at Commutair, we definitely joked about upstate New York being just as bad regarding clear and a million - good heavens, running our Embro out of BUF (or SYR) in the early AM is a living hell when the weather stations close up shop and end their days with some VV003 BKN030 OVC060 crap. "AMD LTD OK BYEEEEE" is what it should read.

As for PSA, this week's the week for info and e-mail, so I will most likely have a clear image of what will be going on as the days go by. I have the offer letter, I'm just waiting on the info.

Thank you guys for the replies!
 
You can also throw in secondary factors of living in DAY vs CLE.

I visited CommutAir's SOC in CLE many moons ago, it was an inside office - no windows. What was really funny was how they laid out the furnitiure. There was a big support column pretty much in the middle and the 4 dispatch desks were on each side of it. So sitting at any of the desks you saw the column. You could only chat with the dispatchers to your left and right. If you wanted the guy across you both had to lean to one side. Just strange. Not sure if it has changed.
 
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My question would be what is the flow thru from Commuteair? I too heard that they have some pretty senior dudes there.
Do all the newbies quit or move on?? Where have all the good ones gone too Grasshopper?

Another version I heard,
1 cloud, 2 drops of precip and "can I have 3000 more lbs?"
 
Turnover rate at PSA right now is at 50% so you'll climb seniority rank quickly. To whoever said you'll need to study on your own, that statement couldn't be more true. You won't learn much in training as far as dispatching goes. You'll learn about lots of pilot-y things though!
 
CS0290 said:
Turnover rate at PSA right now is at 50% so you'll climb seniority rank quickly. To whoever said you'll need to study on your own, that statement couldn't be more true. You won't learn much in training as far as dispatching goes. You'll learn about lots of pilot-y things though!
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High turnover is only good if the people leaving are going to a step up in the ladder. Lateral moves indicate the place sucks to work at and people are leaving for whatever comes up.

A low turnover rate indicates people like working there. It doesn't necessarily mean that the place is amazing but it does show that despite whatever issues there may be, the employees like working there enough not to make a move.

I think the most important factor is getting hired by a major in the overall sense of things is to build your personal connections. The more friendly connections you have, the less you have to worry about choosing a crappy regional over a less crappy regional. You will still get to the majors because friends like to see their friends get hired. Indeed, I would say who you work for matters less than who you work with. The people around you can be both your competition and greatest advocates for being hired at a major.

Hiring may be going well now but this isn't always going to be this way. It can change tomorrow. If you were to get stuck at a regional, which one would you rather be at for ten years? If you have a choice between a better company and a worse company, pick the better one. Even if they fly turboprops. Not saying Commutair is better or worse than PSA but it is to say that dispatching jets shouldn't be as big a factor in choosing where to work as the working environment of the company.
 
In the world of regionals I would take the measure of the quality of the airline by both retention and turnover. Let me 'splain.

If I see an airline that has a core of guys that have been there for many years that tells me that the company is a good place to be and the location is conducive to living at least comfortably given the compensation.

High turnover of junior people, provided they are moving up, tells me that the dispatchers coming out of there are quality, which speaks to a professionally run organization.
 
Flagship_dxer said:
High turnover is only good if the people leaving are going to a step up in the ladder. Lateral moves indicate the place sucks to work at and people are leaving for whatever comes up.

A low turnover rate indicates people like working there. It doesn't necessarily mean that the place is amazing but it does show that despite whatever issues there may be, the employees like working there enough not to make a move.

I think the most important factor is getting hired by a major in the overall sense of things is to build your personal connections. The more friendly connections you have, the less you have to worry about choosing a crappy regional over a less crappy regional. You will still get to the majors because friends like to see their friends get hired. Indeed, I would say who you work for matters less than who you work with. The people around you can be both your competition and greatest advocates for being hired at a major.

Hiring may be going well now but this isn't always going to be this way. It can change tomorrow. If you were to get stuck at a regional, which one would you rather be at for ten years? If you have a choice between a better company and a worse company, pick the better one. Even if they fly turboprops. Not saying Commutair is better or worse than PSA but it is to say that dispatching jets shouldn't be as big a factor in choosing where to work as the working environment of the company.
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Take it for what it's worth but only 2 people in the past year have gone to the majors. Everyone else is going to other regionals, cargo, or are getting out of aviation altogether.
 
Two dispatchers are leaving for United, some are making lateral moves, some are going to cargo... It's not the best regional, but not the worst. It will definitely be challenging but there are a handful of good people that will keep you moving in the right direction.
 
If the turnover is too high, you could easily be trained the wrong way if you end up with a large group of inexperienced trainers. Sort of like the blind leading the blind. The good in that could be said to be the dispatcher will quickly learn to sink or swim on his own without much help but the bad is that you miss out on the experiential knowledge that people who have been doing it for a while can teach to you. In effect you can be taught things at some carriers in training that you would gradually need to learn for yourself if you ever learn it at all at a carrier with less experienced trainers.

Furthermore, you can run into the problem of not being a good fit for that organization and due to your bad experience with that company, you leave the business altogether instead of trying another company. I know some people that left the industry after not enjoying their time at the crappy regional they were employed by and I know others that gave another regional a try and found that indeed there are other places that may be better suited for some people depending on their personality type.

If you think one company is better environment wise then another, then that needs to be the primary factor in deciding who to work for. The equipment can change anytime. A few years ago nobody could have guessed that PSA would have been given so many new airplanes. You will learn so much more and have a much better personal experience if you choose the airline you think has a better working environment.

People from all sorts of backgrounds get hired by majors. Seeing the backgrounds of the recent Southwest and AA classes, there is a great diversity in the paths that the dispatchers all took. While a majority may come from jet regionals, not all do and your overall knowledge, personality and personal connections at a carrier are what get your hired.
 
Flagship_dxer said:
If the turnover is too high, you could easily be trained the wrong way if you end up with a large group of inexperienced trainers. Sort of like the blind leading the blind. The good in that could be said to be the dispatcher will quickly learn to sink or swim on his own without much help but the bad is that you miss out on the experiential knowledge that people who have been doing it for a while can teach to you. In effect you can be taught things at some carriers in training that you would gradually need to learn for yourself if you ever learn it at all at a carrier with less experienced trainers.

Furthermore, you can run into the problem of not being a good fit for that organization and due to your bad experience with that company, you leave the business altogether instead of trying another company. I know some people that left the industry after not enjoying their time at the crappy regional they were employed by and I know others that gave another regional a try and found that indeed there are other places that may be better suited for some people depending on their personality type.

If you think one company is better environment wise then another, then that needs to be the primary factor in deciding who to work for. The equipment can change anytime. A few years ago nobody could have guessed that PSA would have been given so many new airplanes. You will learn so much more and have a much better personal experience if you choose the airline you think has a better working environment.

People from all sorts of backgrounds get hired by majors. Seeing the backgrounds of the recent Southwest and AA classes, there is a great diversity in the paths that the dispatchers all took. While a majority may come from jet regionals, not all do and your overall knowledge, personality and personal connections at a carrier are what get your hired.
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Nothing sums up PSA better than that... blind leading the blind. There's a handful of good people, however, they are the ones on the way out. Most everyone on the seniority list sans the 4-5 lifers have been there less than 12 months.
 
BayouMLU said:
High turnover means it won't be as long until you can hold a line with weekends off. Don't ever be afraid of high turnover. You can't control other people's actions, only your own.
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I smile outwardly every time someone with more seniority than I leaves for a major. Best thing in the world is getting a line you actually want in a bid.

Seniority is the most important thing at a regional.
 
Luigi said:
I smile outwardly every time someone with more seniority than I leaves for a major. Best thing in the world is getting a line you actually want in a bid.

Seniority is the most important thing at a regional.
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I was genuinely surprised when I came to work one day and saw I had Fri/Sat/Sun off for the next quarter. It's probably the busiest desk we have, but the days off are great and busy means time flies and I learn a lot. I didn't come here to be complacent and click on buttons.
 
BayouMLU said:
I was genuinely surprised when I came to work one day and saw I had Fri/Sat/Sun off for the next quarter. It's probably the busiest desk we have, but the days off are great and busy means time flies and I learn a lot. I didn't come here to be complacent and click on buttons.
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Yes yes, that is why I often times try to convince my senior friends to think of how much time they could have with their families if they just retire.
 
Perks to PSA- Overtime is almost always available, not too hard to get a relatively desirable schedule due to high turnover and folks wanting to work weekends for travel/avoiding management, jet 121 experience, route structure is frequently challenging due to high demand and wx impacts. Promotion to the coordinator position remains plausible due to high turnover and expected increase in fleet over the next year.
Negatives- Management as everyone else has said, many sick calls and junior man situations, poor training- even though I believe due to recent debacles this should improve, general poor morale.

Also contract negotiations are ongoing and the rumor is management wants to combat the high turnover with a solid pay increase. I believe the only other similar regional paying lower is mesa- starting right now is 14.45.
If you are looking for a foot into the door this isnt a bad option, but i certainly would recommend other regionals like skywest.
 
Luigi said:
I smile outwardly every time someone with more seniority than I leaves for a major. Best thing in the world is getting a line you actually want in a bid.

Seniority is the most important thing at a regional.
Click to expand...

This can be a double edged sword. You might be gaining seniority at your regional but if you don't want to make the regional a career, those people leaving above you are going to always be senior to you at the major they went to. Turnover at most majors is pretty light outside of retirements or the rare promotion. At AA and Southwest, most managers these days are not hired from the dispatch group so you only move up with retirements or desks opening up for workload relief. With consolidation, the lists are pretty long so the longer you wait or need to wait to go to a major, the bigger the hill you will have to climb seniority wise.
 
Reek said:
Perks to PSA- Overtime is almost always available, not too hard to get a relatively desirable schedule due to high turnover and folks wanting to work weekends for travel/avoiding management, jet 121 experience, route structure is frequently challenging due to high demand and wx impacts. Promotion to the coordinator position remains plausible due to high turnover and expected increase in fleet over the next year.
Negatives- Management as everyone else has said, many sick calls and junior man situations, poor training- even though I believe due to recent debacles this should improve, general poor morale.

Also contract negotiations are ongoing and the rumor is management wants to combat the high turnover with a solid pay increase. I believe the only other similar regional paying lower is mesa- starting right now is 14.45.
If you are looking for a foot into the door this isnt a bad option, but i certainly would recommend other regionals like skywest.
Click to expand...
Don't forget that after you work at PSA, you'll be an expert delay coder. After all, that's your number one priority. Forget all those diversions and reroutes... its of utmost importance you code those DQT and DQC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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