RAT 5 Re your last para I support fully your comments regarding groups getting together, there is a problem with actually making it happen. Its not just in this environment, when I worked in ATC and Airport ops, getting aircrew to come and see you for a chat was near on impossible, and I'm well aware that your lifestile rosters does'nt always allow that. We don't have a combined ops/crewing/crewroom, if we did that might help, we could see the face on the radio/phone if only for 5 mins which can help in building that core relationship between 'ops' and crews. If one or two more popped in on the way back to their cars after a duty, (I know, I know,) then perhaps that might help too!. We are no longer able to go for jumpseat rides, which I found particularly useful, and we are generally nailed to our desk for 12hrs, (we rarely get the opportunity to take an hour in the orangerie either!), recently with no breaks, and crewers have a far higher workload than many give credit for. We in ops have the bright ideas,
and then the crewers have to make sure it can happen, as well as dealing with the day to day crap they do.
It is hell going to work knowing you are not going to enjoy it, its not just night shifts either, of late its been groundhog day, same $hit, every day, come January there might just be tumbleweed blowing through ops at eJ if the situation doesn't change, and I don't think I'm alone with those feelings.