I had no experience dispatching when I hired on here, nor any knowledge of the computer software used at PSA. When hired in, I had 2 weeks of dispatch classes and 2 weeks of pilot familiarization classes. One week of dispatch class followed by pilot familiarization, then back to dispatch. The first day on the job, the dispatch supervisor told me they only had one person qualified to train new dispatchers, and the impression I got was this wasn't a good thing. Turns out it wasn't. I spent most of the first week watching my instructor play on here Facebook, and look at horse auction websites. There were very little hands on training. Or any training. After three 10 hour days of watching her dispatch flights quickly so she could get back to her Facebook and horse auctions, she finally started showing me the steps to dispatch a flight. During the 3 Facebook/horse auction 10 hour days, other dispatchers offered to let me sit by them so I could watch a dispatcher actually doing their jobs, They were told to leave me alonr, that SHE was training me. The last day of training before pilot familiarization classes, the dispatch supervisor called me in his office and told me my trainer said I was incompetent on the computer as if I had never used a computer before. She had 30 hours to teach me the software and used the majority of this time on her facebook and web browsing. I did tell the supervisor step by step how to use the software to dispatch, and he seemed satisfied I knew that. The pilot familiarization classes were tough but the instructor was very good, and I did learn a lot from him. Towards the end of these classes, he asked me how the dispatching side was working out, and I told him how poorly I was being trained. He printed out a check list of things I had to know, and told me to show it to the dispatch trainer when I got back. I did that, and she pretty much just brushed it aside. As the time for my training was coming close to an end, she spent a little more time training me. Little is the key word. I came in on my own free time on a Saturday to work with another dispatcher who was great. I learned more in those 10 hours than the 60 or 70 hours spent with the qualified trainer. My last day of training my trainer was telling me I was ready to go and at the end of the day I would stop off at the supervisors to make plans for my familiarization flight. I was happy, but worried because of my lack of training, but a couple of other dispatchers told me not to worry, I would be working with some good people on the night shift, and they would be more than willing to help me learn. So, I walked into the dispatch supervisors office expecting to make my travel plans, and was told" It looks like you've made a breakthrough, but we spent too much money on you, and we're letting you go" I was speechless. The whole time this "trainer" was telling me I was doing a good job, she was telling him something entirely different. I spent a LOT of my own time and money getting this dispatcher license, and even decided to go for a degree in aviation technology in hopes of getting a job with PSA. I was told by my "trainer" the dispatch course at Sinclair Community College was a big joke. I should have known then something wasn't right. My first day of training I noticed the other dispatchers were doing what they were supposed to do, watching the weather, following the flights, ect, while my "trainer" was busy facebooking and looking for horses to buy. My experience at PSA has made me re-think my dream of being a dispatcher, or ever working for any airlines. I am 53 years old, have had a lot of different jobs in my life, but have never been treated so shabbily by any company..
