Dispatch Dispatcher
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness; Workload
Other Unwanted Situation
Company Policy; Human Factors; Procedure
Our airline's new automated dispatch generator system recommended NO Alternate for one of my flights based on unreliable and inadequate information. The program recommended NO alternate for the flight but apparently had not read the current forecast of light rain and snow; three miles visibility and broken clouds at 800 AGL. I caught the event prior to departure time and assigned an appropriate alternate based on FARs; company training and experience. This automated system dispatches flights in direct contradiction to FAR 121.619 and other approved; proven regulations; company policies and back up procedures. DISPATCH NOTE: This flight was written with legal alternate by the morning Dispatcher and the automated system's recommendations came to the evening Dispatcher.This program is unreliable; unsafe and has a high error rate which; during high tempo workloads; could INCREASE chances of illegal releases and possible illegal flights if not caught by the flight crew. It also has a high potential of causing potential flight delays due to last minute fuel increases for alternates the program did not recommend or illegal flights if not caught by flight crews and Dispatch before departure time.
An air carrier Dispatcher believes the newly implemented computerized dispatch program is inadequate or unable to provide consistently legal and timely flight releases.