Commercial Fixed Wing
Dispatch Dispatcher
Time Pressure; Human-Machine Interface; Communication Breakdown; Workload
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural MEL / CDL; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance; Ground Event / Encounter Fuel Issue; Ground Event / Encounter Ground Equipment Issue
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy; Staffing; Software and Automation; Human Factors; Environment - Non Weather Related; Equipment / Tooling
[I] missed applying an MEL with a fuel penalty. Corrected the mistake and resent the [release] for the Captain to sign.I got to work 10 minutes early for an [early morning] shift. The license had expired for the Jeppesen chart viewer on my computer. I called the help desk. After trouble shooting for 10 minutes; I was told to find another machine. There were no more licenses available. My workload was 20 fights vs. a normal plan of 18. Seventeen of my flights were scheduled out in a one hour period. (Shift starts at XA:00. First flight due out at XC:00 and the 17th was due out at XD:00). I had a major snow storm out over the plains; frequency outage in the vicinity of ZZZ. I had to build around ZZZ and had a couple of transcontinental flights for good measure. After the computer delay of 30 minutes I went to work at XA:30 looking at weather and MELs and contacting ramps with restrictions. I have long advocated for a maximum of 18 flights on [this] desk. They were originally designed for this number (some dispute this claim). I have had discussions with numerous members of management; [supervisory dispatchers] and coworkers about why this should be the maximum. We have experienced and documented problems when the number of flights exceeds 18. When coupled with the compression (numerous departures in a short time period) it only makes these types of mistakes more likely. Today; it caused me to rush and miss a MEL item. I feel like I was setup to fail when I walked through the door. An inoperative computer system; excessive number of flights and a tight compression of departures. I realize that responsibility rests on me for my work; but these issues continue to be ignored time and time again. first release was generated at approx. XB:05. This particular flight had two MELs. The first was a broken lock and the other was a fuel penalty. I looked at the lock MEL first; called the ramp with the restrictions and then failed to go back and account for the fuel penalty.
Air carrier Dispatcher reported that a heavy workload; inoperative computer; and difficult weather; contributed to a fuel miscalculation when preparing a flight release.