Thanks to Chief Pilot Dept (Russ), here's a quick and dirty primer for deciphering some info on the new release.

RELEASE PRIMER:
As we resume Operations, several things have changed. Right now, the most visible one is the Company Flight Release.

Here is a VERY Brief explination on how to decipher it:

The very top line tells us we are operating MCAXXXX KXXXKXXX (Flight number, From-To).

Then, comes the type of Aircraft, STD (Departure Time in GMT) blanks to fill in Actual time if you want.

Then, Type, which is the Model of the Acft, STA (Arrival Time in GMT).

Then, Crew Information naming the Dispatcher and the Captain of the flight (You).

Next: FUel Calculation: All in Lb (Pounds). The important number here is the last one: ACT.....This is the amount of fuel you will load.

To the right is: WEIGHT/FUEL BREAK DOWN: ALL IN LB. ZFW is important for programming the FMC, and REM shows what you should have after you park and shut down. TOF and TOW are the Fuel and Weight when you are ready to go.

Note: If you need the actual payload figure you must subtract the operating empty weight (OEW) of your aircraft from the Zero Fuel Weight (ZFW) figure. ZFW - OEW = PAYLOAD.

NEXT: RTE VIA: This is the planned route of flight showing the SID/Enroute/STAR/(APT-Arrival Airport.)
DIst: How far it is

FLight Profile: Altitudes enroute.

Below that you see the actual FLightplan with waypoints, altitudes, Distance and Time to the next Waypoint, FUEL (which is fuel USED), and RFU (which is Remaining Fuel).

This is really all the basic information you need to conduct the flight. Any other questions, just let us know and we will answer the best we can. Good Luck!

Why are there two entries for ZFW, TOF, TOW, and LW?

Looking for information on the following entries (looking at my current release):

Bias 1000
RR20 2423 0.20
Track Index 101
ESAD 1163 Component T003
CRSM NCR CLIMB NCL

I don't see any entries regarding Cost Index (is this track index?)

What about Flex-TO calculations? Is this currently possible for the A320?

Ok - I've been looking at TOPCAT myself and it looks pretty slick.

One other question - previously, different A/C had different OEWs. Currently, I'm using the PSS A320 standard OEW (90,400 w/ an additional 3450 pounds for galleys and crew). Any advice on this?

Not really. Our system before was custom built/tailored to our operation. I'm currently using a commercial application (Flight Operations Center / FOC) to build our releases. While it does a few neat tricks, all in all I can't say as I'm overly happy with it for our needs. For now we'll have to live with it.

MC/Dx

Just a quick question..... are we still using a cost index of 65? I have still been using it everytime and will continue to do so until I hear differently.

Thanks!