My first dispatch job was with ExpressJet back when they were still in the ivory tower on Smith Street in Houston. It was a great place to get your feet wet. Lots of short flights that gave you plenty of opportunity to get your own personal checklist down pat. Plenty of good memories including some great coworkers as well. I've never forgotten a couple of great quotes I heard from them. "It's 'reserve fuel' sir, it's not a brick in the tank!!" "You are on the ground safe, legal, and sound.....dispatch service terminated!!!" A couple have passed on, others either went to Continental ahead of me or to other airlines, and yet a few more are still there. I feel for them. First displaced to Atlanta and now out of a job. I hope they can get on somewhere else when things recover but in the end wish them all the best no matter what career they end up in.
What's the point of an open door policy if inside the open door sits a closed mind?