Commercial Fixed Wing
Dispatch Dispatcher
Workload
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Flight Crew Returned To Gate; Flight Crew Diverted
Staffing
After taking over the assigned desk I received several phone and radio call from four flights. The flights arriving were receiving holding instructions and requesting info on where to divert. The flights departing were asking about rerouting due to weather conditions one of the departure issues was resolved; the other continued to be a problem. While dealing with the four flights I received an ACARS message regarding a sick passenger/medical emergency. The flight continued and later called for a patch with the POC. By this time two flights diverted and one returned to the gate. One of the diverted flights continued to be an issue for several hours due to FAR 117 flight crew legality. Operational control was maintained but became difficult with so much attention having to go to a few flights at one airport.Airline management has decided to put a greater emphasis on a high number of flight plan releases per desk rather than operational control and safety of flight.
Dispatcher stated that there were insufficient dispatchers to handle the workload.