Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 240; Flight Crew Total 18000; Flight Crew Type 1000
Workload; Time Pressure; Communication Breakdown; Distraction
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy; Procedure
I was flying to PVR and for the third of four legs. I was unable to uplink winds either on the ground or in flight. I was trying to contact Dispatch to find a resolution to this problem and I requested a CALL ME on ACARS. I made three requests within 50 minutes and got no reply. I tried to AIRINC Dispatch using the foreign frequency and could not make contact with an operator. My concern is with our ability to communicate with Dispatch while flying in North America. On descent; I received a message from a new Dispatcher that the dispatchers are overwhelmed and understaffed and that they cannot respond to CALL ME messages. I find that entirely unacceptable for a large airline to not be able to communicate to all its aircraft in flight.
A B737 Captain reported his Dispatcher would not return a requested call about winds inflight because their carrier's dispatchers are overwhelmed and understaffed.