Originally Posted by aw8565
Pilot Pete, I think there are some very good despatchers out there and some very bad ones that can cause problems rather than solve them.
Agreed, just like there are some very good and some very bad captains when it comes to dealing with dispatchers.
His job is to make sure everyone else does what they're supposed to do. It mystifies me that some despatchers can struggle with this!
Exactly! What exasperates us is when the Dispatcher; our link between the various agencies which we employ, doesn't oversee the operation and just 'does their own thing', including standing in the office until the loadsheet is ready (for 20 minutes!), whilst we have ramp handling problems. I don't expect the Dispatcher to check that my loadsheet is correct unless they have been trained in how to read it. Ours is pretty simple and all that needs to be done is to check the data that we have supplied on a form is transcribed correctly to the loadsheet. That's all I do and then make sure that the loading is correct and there are no anomolies (like wrong aircraft!), incorrect pax standard weights etc etc. But what I do expect is the Dispatcher to bring it to me as expeditiously as he/she can and not stand at the bottom of the steps for 5 minutes with it in their hand, chatting to the other groundstaff until the pax are all on board! The sooner we get it the sooner we can check for mistakes, do corrections and work out our take-off performance. From a pilot point of view it often appears that some dispatchers think their job is done when everyone is onboard and THEN they hand the loadsheet to us at STD-2, believing that any delay is then not down to them!!
I don't wish to moan about Dispatchers, but I think it is a viscious circle, many are part-time for the summer, barely trained and struggle, usually down to the fact that the customer airlines have screwed the handling company down to the bare minimum price!
PP