You have GOT to be kidding me....

[homerjdispatch]

crjdxr.....whered you get that pic? What a view!

 

[crjdxr]

crjdxr.....whered you get that pic? What a view!

It is a nice view, isn't it?

I don't recall where I found that picture. It has been quite some time since I found it. No matter though, the view in that picture is spectacular.

 

[rod guhzhinya]

Pilots, well captains at a minimum, should be required to sit an entire shift in dispatch - make it a part of their recurrent.

We have to sit and spend some time in the flight deck (which I absolutely love to do), they should be required to do the same.

I have been to one airline that required, as a part of upgrade training, that those going through their first upgrade had to spend a shift in dispatch to see the other side of the radio - I fully support that. Makes for great CRM/DRM.

I have also been to other carriers that didnt want pilots in dispatch at all for whatever reason - we were just a voice on the phone or radio, or words on an ACARS printout.

Those pilots who do spend some time in dispatch usually come away with a much greater notion of what we actually do in a 10 hour shift. Make it a bad weather day with a lot of crew reroutes, missed approaches, or BINGO fuel diversions - not those rare days where the airline seems to be on ottopylit

Great idea...when I worked at AirWis, the new hire f/os were required to sit an entire shift with us..and here at Midwest we still do face-to-face briefings with the crews which in my opionion makes the relationship between pilots/dispatcher much better.

 

[rod guhzhinya]

I agree with all point made here, the levels of responsibility are different from a physical point of view no doubt.. but the regs address a different responsibility in 121.533.. and that is what we the dispatchers are talking about.. I would much rather have a truly mutual agreement with my PIC's than have mutual distrust or annoyance... I think we should get paid a % along the same kind of scale as a captain...

Oh yea my fine feathered friends, please dont forget many of us where or are pilots too..

On a another point regarding pay: Consider that the fact that Pilots make up the Largest number of employees on the Payroll and dispatchers are probably the smallest number on the books. If the company were to increase in pay rates a few dollars an hour to the pilots that would be a HUGH hit to the bottom line, whereas the same increase to the dispatchers would be nothing more than a blip on the bean counters spread sheet...

Unlike pilots working there way up the ladder to captains and their pay rates accordingly, dispatchers are pretty much thrown into the fire right after they get comp checked... our responsibility on day one, is the same as it will be the day before we retire ( as far as the regs go) sure we might have the opportunnity to move into a management or ATC or some other similar position down the road, but these positions are few and far between... so we have to wait on scheduled pay increases in some union contract which is many cases really suck...

Anyway, I wont dispatch anymore because of the stupid pay rates, and long if not impossible commutes, I have been interviewed many times in recent years and have nicely made this the point for my turn down and is why I have not returned to the dispatch ranks, having moved to other airline trades. I am just one person doing this, more people must do the same as well as educating the new students out there of the "real" airline world to which they wish to enter, and not believe the school hipe and BS of makeing 6 figures as a dispatcher.. Not going to ever happen kids...

In any case everyone needs to join together on this issue, as long as the company's sees the in-fighting between ranks, they know they have nothing to worry about and can justify anything.. JMHO

Me too, after nearly four years I am outta this dx game in June...going to graduate school and will hopefully get a "real" job so I can get off the food stamps. I bet I will make just as much working part-time during school than I do as a full time dx'er right now!