{"id":5891,"date":"2017-06-26T16:08:25","date_gmt":"2017-06-26T21:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/?p=5891"},"modified":"2017-06-26T16:08:25","modified_gmt":"2017-06-26T21:08:25","slug":"envoy-hours-dispatcher-donnie-hackett-aka-mr-midnight-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/2017\/06\/26\/envoy-hours-dispatcher-donnie-hackett-aka-mr-midnight-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Envoy After Hours: Dispatcher Donnie Hackett aka “Mr. Midnight”"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Irving, Texas around midnight, there aren\u2019t many businesses that are open apart from your all-night diners, never-closed superstores and 24-hour hamburger joints. But at Envoy Headquarters, the aircraft dispatchers are working business as usual.<\/p>\n

This group of night owls works in Systems Operations Control (SOC) overnight to monitor flights by communicating with stations and pilots, checking weather patterns, plotting flight routes and determining the amount of fuel needed for the flight.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur overnight dispatchers are like the ears and eyes watching the system and weather while everyone else is asleep,\u201d says Robert Nault, director of SOC. \u201cIt\u2019s a crucial role for us to keep operational control 24\/7 and to make sure things stay safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Breaking down the day<\/h3>\n

One of the dispatchers, Donnie Hackett, is known around SOC as Mr. Midnight, because he has worked the third shift for the better part of his 13 years at Envoy. Over that time, he\u2019s grown to love the late hours and has made it routine, he says.<\/p>\n

On this night, Donnie walks into SOC with his backpack slung over his shoulder and a smile from ear to ear. Even though it\u2019s just after 10 p.m., SOC is bubbling with chatter as Donnie begins to get settled into his desk.<\/p>\n

The first thing Donnie does is switch on his computer and its four large monitors. Each displays different windows to help Donnie operate his flights.<\/p>\n

He uses one for email and web browsing, another one filled with cryptic green text that serves as a message feed, one with a black and white weather map with purple oceans, and one more with the same green text that tells Donnie the specifics of the flights.<\/p>\n

Next, Donnie begins taking over flights from the dispatchers who are ending their shifts, breaking down the day\u2019s scheduled flights. Basically, he wants to condense all the flights from about eight dispatchers\u2019 desks to just two desks. Once he does that, the other dispatchers can go home.<\/p>\n

Donnie and The Dispatchers<\/h3>\n

\"IMG_SOC_Dispatch_Donnie_Hackett-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now that Donnie has picked up flights and he has all of their details on his computer screen, he can then carry on with his main responsibilities. He has to determine the night\u2019s remaining flights\u2019 destinations and monitor any inclement weather that may affect their routes.<\/p>\n

From takeoff to landing, Donnie must follow the flight and keep in constant communication, just in case there have to be any changes in routes. If there is weather affecting a flight\u2019s current route, it is up to Donnie to find an alternate one and make sure the pilots are okay to continue on that route.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m determining routes, there\u2019s a lot of double-checking going on,\u201d says Donnie. \u201cBetween dispatchers, pilots, air traffic control and the stations, we stay in constant communication to keep each other safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

To help monitor weather patterns, Donnie and the other dispatchers use a few different programs to calculate the storms\u2019 positions, dimensions and strength. They can also determine the amount of turbulence a flight might experience.<\/p>\n

All of these factors play into a dispatcher\u2019s decision making and route planning. A dispatcher also has some background in meteorology, as it is necessary to earn an aircraft dispatcher license, which can help them make decisions based on that knowledge.<\/p>\n

Donnie explains that when bad weather arises, he must have a Plan A, B and C. In the case that he must divert a flight to land at an alternate destination, dispatchers must also make sure that the station has the people to help work the flight.<\/p>\n

Released and ready to go<\/h3>\n

\"IMG_SOC_Dispatch_Donnie_Hackett-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, dealing with bad weather and finding alternate routes aren\u2019t the only duties of a dispatcher. When flights run smoothly, it\u2019s up to the dispatchers to fill out releases, <\/i>which Donnie explains are like game plans for each flight.<\/p>\n

In the release, Donnie inputs the route, weather conditions and amount of fuel to be filled onto the aircraft. The aircraft\u2019s computer helps calculate some of the fuel, but the dispatcher makes the final determination based on holding time, taxi time, possible diversions and weather patterns.<\/p>\n

The release is then sent to Air Traffic Control for a final check, and then sent back to the pilots if they accept the dispatcher\u2019s recommendations on the release. Once that checks out, the flight can begin on its way.<\/p>\n

Also aiding in a dispatcher\u2019s daily duties is a well-rounded knowledge of the system and recurrent training once a year. To gain the perspective of the flight crews, all dispatchers are also required to earn some hours in flight training.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s really important to be familiar with what our crews deal with,\u201d says Donnie. \u201cIt helps us make better choices for their flights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building up the day<\/h3>\n

Most of the flight monitoring happens from 10:30 p.m. to midnight when the last Envoy flight has touched down for the day. From then until 7 a.m., Donnie can begin building and planning the next day\u2019s flights.<\/p>\n

This is one of the most impactful aspects of Donnie\u2019s job – to have the first flights of day planned out and ready for an on-time departure. At 7:20 a.m., Donnie has only a handful of releases to finish and the rest of the flights are well on their way.<\/p>\n

His replacement clocks in around 8 a.m., and gets the scoop from Donnie about the overnight flights and current flights on his desk. In a sort of mini briefing, he goes over the weather, turbulence, routes, flight statuses, and any potential issues at any stations in the system.<\/p>\n

Donnie \u2014 who looks pretty awake for having spent the entire night working on flights \u2014 begins to pack up and decide whether or not he wants to get his morning breakfast (really, his dinner). As he puts it, the \u201cweirdest\u201d part about his job is that his evening is everyone else\u2019s morning.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s okay with him; he loves his job and his title as Mr. Midnight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love being in a decision-making position,\u201d says Donnie. \u201cIt\u2019s rewarding, I feel like I have a purpose. It\u2019s nice knowing that we are here to protect other people and get them to where they\u2019re going safely.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Irving, Texas around midnight, there aren\u2019t many businesses that are open apart from your all-night diners, never-closed superstores and 24-hour hamburger joints. But at Envoy Headquarters, the aircraft dispatchers are working business as usual. This group of night owls works in Systems Operations Control (SOC) overnight to monitor flights by communicating with stations and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":42264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[105,64,65,66,77,195,144,210,51,68,59,71],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5891"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}