Which is a better route?

O

onlyblueskies

Well-Known Member
After acquiring the required amount of dispatch experience, is it better to get some random job at a major such as ramp, customer service or reservations, etc to try and get in internally? Or is it better to stay working at a regional or smaller airline and keep trying to get mainline dispatch? Thx u
 
No, a dispatcher should dispatch. This is a trap. If you're already a ramper, scheduler, etc and you get your DX ticket it's a different story. Otherwise, stay at the regional while you build experience, hone your skills and keep your knowledge sharp for interviews.
 
dx8709 said:
No, a dispatcher should dispatch. This is a trap. If you're already a ramper, scheduler, etc and you get your DX ticket it's a different story. Otherwise, stay at the regional while you build experience, hone your skills and keep your knowledge sharp for interviews.
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agreed. and with the rate each major is hiring/siphoning dispatchers from regionals, it’s only a matter of time for you.
 
onlyblueskies said:
After acquiring the required amount of dispatch experience, is it better to get some random job at a major such as ramp, customer service or reservations, etc to try and get in internally? Or is it better to stay working at a regional or smaller airline and keep trying to get mainline dispatch? Thx u
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Don’t do that. Either move to a mid-level airline to widen your experience or move up at your regional. Don’t make it look like a small regional shop is not willing to let you move up so, after a couple of years of dispatching, you should be able to move to a sector supervisor or become a trainer/instructor, I know many at regionals that move up after 6months. Especially with all the dispatcher attrition nowadays, don’t let too many new dispatchers jump ahead of you getting promoted at your shop. You will end up interviewing against those dispatchers at the mainline and they will notice that and wonder if there is something about your personality that kept you from moving up while getting skipped by new guys.
 
Jaketheman said:
Don’t do that. Either move to a mid-level airline to widen your experience or move up at your regional. Don’t make it look like a small regional shop is not willing to let you move up so, after a couple of years of dispatching, you should be able to move to a sector supervisor or become a trainer/instructor, I know many at regionals that move up after 6months. Especially with all the dispatcher attrition nowadays, don’t let too many new dispatchers jump ahead of you getting promoted at your shop. You will end up interviewing against those dispatchers at the mainline and they will notice that and wonder if there is something about your personality that kept you from moving up while getting skipped by new guys.
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If a dispatcher does move up at the regionals to supervisor or instructor roles, they need to keep their dispatch knowledge and skills up to date. I would say only move up if you can retain your dispatch currency. It is not unusual for internals with a fresh new dispatch license to get hired while experienced regional supervisors and instructors get TBNTs or put in hiring pools. The issue normally is a lack of currency and rusty dispatch knowledge. If you go to a major airline dispatch interview with job title advancement on your resume, expect to be held to a higher standard than a line dispatcher or internal with no experience.
 
Unless you’re already at a major airline working the ramp/gate then I would definitely take a regional job ASAP and build your experience. Remember, actual 121 dispatching experience > any other operational position at a major. BUT, some airlines have been known to hire only or mainly internally (B6, DL to name a couple). Nowadays with the current DX job market you won’t have to worry about that as pretty much all majors are hiring externally and some even with 0 dispatch experience, which is a first. Not sure how long that will last, though.

I chose the internal route (ramp and onward) but only because I didn’t really want to leave the region I was living in and I already had a bit of seniority at the airline. It worked for me as my airline has usually hired mainly internal candidates.

As with everything, YMMV.
 
One thing to think of is what your resume looks like. Showing growth in the right direction and moving from maybe a regional to a mid level airline makes you look more hireable to a major. I knew a guy that took a drop from a 121 supp that did international and etops with heavy jets and dropped to a regional because he wanted to try the "flow through" to the major and he's still at that regional. Not a good look from a hiring perspective IMO
 
Another perspective, starting with no dispatch experience, is it better to gain experience at a regional or a carrier such as Breeze, Avelo, etc?
 
if you have zero dispatch experience and your endgame goal is dispatching at a major airline, then it’s best to just get part 121 dispatching experience wherever you can. whether that’s a regional or something like breeze. majors will hire you if you have the knowledge/experience and can bring value, doesn’t matter where you gain that experience necessarily.
 
iono said:
if you have zero dispatch experience and your endgame goal is dispatching at a major airline, then it’s best to just get part 121 dispatching experience wherever you can. whether that’s a regional or something like breeze. majors will hire you if you have the knowledge/experience and can bring value, doesn’t matter where you gain that experience necessarily.
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On the current posting for Breeze, it has a minimum qualification of “2+ years as an aircraft dispatcher (combination of education and experience will be considered)”
 
TJ94 said:
On the current posting for Breeze, it has a minimum qualification of “2+ years as an aircraft dispatcher (combination of education and experience will be considered)”
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Some of their recent hires have been fresh out of school. It is worth a shot to put in an app and see where it goes. I worked with the current hiring manager at one point, he is a good guy and I'd say it is a much better start than a regional if you can get in.
 
yeah it’s always worth putting your name in the hat even if you don’t have whatever minimum experience it says on the posting. some majors will auto-reject, but others may give you a look. then at least you’re giving yourself a chance. let them decide if you’re a good fit.
 
Dx24 said:
Another perspective, starting with no dispatch experience, is it better to gain experience at a regional or a carrier such as Breeze, Avelo, etc?
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Any Dispatch experience is good experience. There are certain regionals that are essentially feeders for the majors and as such they generally do things similarly to the majors but at a smaller scale, including training and certain software programs that are used for flight planning and following. As such, it's easier to train someone who is already familiar with SABRE or NavBlue than someone who used a proprietary in-house software at their regional. Endeavor is good if you want to get into Delta (but not the only route); similarly, Envoy is basically a production line to American.

Since Breeze and Avelo are quite new, majors might be more wary to hire someone from them since they haven't "proven" themselves in the highly competitive environment that is commercial aviation. 121 experience is still experience, but it's something to keep in mind that where you get it can also matter.
 
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