Narrative:

Plainly said; workload on this dispatch desk--even on a good; non weather day--is very high and in my opinion it is not possible to keep operational control on all the flights for which I am responsible at the same time. Throw in bad weather at multiple stations and changing braking action conditions at another; enroute wind changes and extensive areas of turbulence and there is no way to come close to any semblance of operational control over this large amount of high workload flights.here is a list of things going on during the shift which I made after I was off duty this is just a highlight of what was occurring on my shift: [the reporter listed multiple examples of weather; alternates; ETOPS complications; braking action concerns at several stations plus simply working up releases for multiple flights including five ETOPS departures.] what would I do if there were sigmets out? Severe turbulence reported? We are supposed to have time to do remarks on each flight with extra fuel now; how is this possible? How are dispatchers going to monitor always changing braking action reports while working and planning many flights? Turbulence? Medlinks? Lightning? Check reporting points for ETOPS flights? Help pilots with possible turbulence; severe turbulence? Sigmets? This is an unacceptable workload. I am not able to maintain situational awareness; and our passengers are the ones who suffer when a dispatcher is not on top of the plane's progress and conditions it is about to endure. Flight following is almost non existent at this workload; the workload to prepare releases and plan alternates leaves time for little else. I had multiple issues going on; very bad weather in both the north and south ends of my areas; mechanical problems; and numerous phone calls to the desk. By default the calls come here from many pilots; very high amount of non desk related calls. This is a huge problem in itself. Throughout the shift I was often unable to brief crews asking about rides; SIGMET locations; etc. Our workload must be decreased; period; the situation at this desk is untenable. ETOPS flights are still being added to desks; many of which have already saturated workload levels. Yet there is still no plan as to when to hire additional dispatchers or open other desks. This is a dangerous situation in my opinion and only a matter of time before an incident occurs.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Dispatcher for a major air carrier addressed his concerns about excessive workloads compromising his ability to provide the services to flight crews for which he is legally responsible.

Narrative: Plainly said; workload on this Dispatch desk--even on a good; non weather day--is VERY high and in my opinion it is not possible to keep operational control on all the flights for which I am responsible at the same time. Throw in bad weather at multiple stations and changing braking action conditions at another; enroute wind changes and extensive areas of turbulence and there is no way to come close to any semblance of operational control over this large amount of high workload flights.Here is a list of things going on during the shift which I made after I was off duty this is just a highlight of what was occurring on my shift: [The reporter listed multiple examples of weather; alternates; ETOPS complications; braking action concerns at several stations plus simply working up releases for multiple flights including five ETOPS departures.] What would I do if there were SIGMETs out? Severe Turbulence reported? We are supposed to have time to do remarks on each flight with extra fuel now; how is this possible? How are dispatchers going to monitor always changing braking action reports while working and planning many flights? Turbulence? Medlinks? Lightning? Check reporting points for ETOPS flights? Help pilots with possible turbulence; severe turbulence? SIGMETs? This is an unacceptable workload. I am not able to maintain situational awareness; and our passengers are the ones who suffer when a Dispatcher is not on top of the plane's progress and conditions it is about to endure. Flight following is almost non existent at this workload; the workload to prepare releases and plan alternates leaves time for little else. I had multiple issues going on; very bad weather in both the north and south ends of my areas; mechanical problems; and numerous phone calls to the desk. By default the calls come here from many pilots; very high amount of non desk related calls. This is a HUGE problem in itself. Throughout the shift I was often unable to brief crews asking about rides; SIGMET locations; etc. Our workload must be decreased; period; the situation at this desk is untenable. ETOPS flights are still being added to desks; many of which have already saturated workload levels. Yet there is still no plan as to when to hire additional dispatchers or open other desks. This is a dangerous situation in my opinion and only a matter of time before an incident occurs.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.