Why high turnover in crew scheduling?

[legacy2000]

I am curious why I keep seeing a crew scheduler position open up like every few months at the same regional airline. Seems to have a lot of turnover maybe.

As a pilot but someone who doesn't fly for the airlines (yet), would this type of work experience be beneficial for a flying career?

What is the good, the bad, and the ugly?

 

[CPZ9900]

Well, Crew Scheduling is seen as a entry level position. At my current airline, which you may be referring too, people are constantly being promoted to dispatch, supervisor, or leaving for a major.

 

[JPilot9]

I am curious why I keep seeing a crew scheduler position open up like every few months at the same regional airline. Seems to have a lot of turnover maybe.

As a pilot but someone who doesn't fly for the airlines (yet), would this type of work experience be beneficial for a flying career?

What is the good, the bad, and the ugly?

There are several reasons for the high turnover rate and much of it boils down to culture and pay. Culture is key anywhere; write computer code in a cubicle at ABC corporation might not be as fun as coding at Google. If it's a company or airline where most employees aren't happy, scheduling unhappy employees is not going to be fun. The quality of life at some places is not great; on top of scheduling unhappy employees, now you're doing it at 2 am while you're away from your family for the night. You probably have more enjoyable places to be. Last, most companies do not have a very high end on the pay scale. When you combine working alongside sometimes disgruntled employees, at weird hours, for lower pay, it is not a recipe for a very long-term career.

Having said all of that, crew scheduling is what you make of it. There will always be the 5% of pilots who are upset we don't have spare tails sitting in Boise on a Friday night, but you learn to politely pass the messages and move on. Pilots call out for a number of reasons and other pilots have to be rerouted or junior assigned to cover the flying, but the reassigned guys might think Scheduling just has it out for them that day.

There are plenty of enjoyable challenges about it; it's like a big game of Tetris. As far as being beneficial, it is what you make of it. Gripe for a few years and you won't benefit. Use it to learn how an airline works and operates internally, how to make efficient decisions, and how to work with people under stressful situations, and you'll do well.

Hope this helps.

 

[manniax]

I am curious why I keep seeing a crew scheduler position open up like every few months at the same regional airline. Seems to have a lot of turnover maybe.

As a pilot but someone who doesn't fly for the airlines (yet), would this type of work experience be beneficial for a flying career?

What is the good, the bad, and the ugly?

Short answer? Because the job sucks! It's an overworked, under appreciated position where you are having to cover schedules and dealing with unhappy people on a daily basis. At least, that has been my impression of it. During the extremely limited dealings I had with that department ( thank God) I would not wish it as a career choice on anyone other than people I intensely dislike.

 

[MT]

Underpaid, overworked, and have to deal with the FAs. With 117 getting ever so closer, a good scheduler is worth their weight in gold.

 

[LawDXer]

1) You deal with whiny pilots....

2) You deal with whiny flight attendants....

 

[JPilot9]

1) You deal with whiny pilots....

2) You deal with whiny flight attendants....

Oftentimes when you meet them out on the road they will inevitably 1) whine about something and then 2) ask you how you deal with so many whiners. I met a captain a few months ago who wanted to know why he was rerouted . . . in 2002.

In reality, if having to deal with complainers or whiners is going to keep you out of a job, you'll be unemployed for life. Professionals learn to deal with those sorts of things, although too much of it can break a good culture down.

I reread my post above and thought of a few more things, so I thought I would add them.

The people aspect is huge. Schedulers hear from Pilots who need to be replaced because their wife just gave birth, their son is in the hospital, a family member just passed away, etc. You see every slice of life and you get to lend them a hand when they need it most. I took a call once from an FO whose father had passed away; he was standing in a jetway when he got the news. Thirty seconds later he's on the phone with me - that can be a heavy experience for some people, but it's also an opportunity to serve others when they need it. We get cards quite frequently from Pilots thanking us for helping get them home when some life event happened unexpectedly. Most of our reserves commute and it was common to release a guy on his last day and give him a few ways to commute home, on us or offline.

It's a great place to start your career in aviation, especially if you do not have very much aviation background. I fit that mold when I started with my company; I had traveled the world and thought airplanes were awesome but I didn't go to an aviation college or work the line at an FBO as a teenager. In some ways it can give you the benefits of an internship; if you work hard, pay attention, and take advantage of opportunities you will see how an airline works. In my first few months I was fortunate enough to see a little bit of Training, Dispatch, Maintenance, Ground Ops, Flight Ops, ATC, Customer Service, and our in-house Technology group. The experience you gain working in Scheduling will help as you move about in the company.

And, since this is a Dispatch forum, I will add that Crew Scheduling is one of the best ways to get into Dispatch.