Job Duties Of A Flight Dispatcher

If you're considering an aviation degree, you might consider studying to become a flight dispatcher. These behind-the-scenes aviation employees work to improve airline safety. In fact, they're as responsible for safe airline travel just as pilots are.

Airline or flight dispatchers work from the ground, planning and tracking the progress of an aircraft as it travels. They provide responsibilities that are considered an added safety measure, and any mistakes that they make have the potential to literally be deadly.

Because flight dispatchers, as much as pilots, are legally responsible for a flight's safety, they sign off on flights that are released. In some instances, they might have to delay, change, or cancel flights. Weather can have a lot to do with flight delays, changes, and cancellations. Because of this, aviation students must know also about meteorology in instances where they plan on becoming dispatchers.

Flight dispatchers work with aircraft captains on pre-flight planning and are involved in decisions also having to do with equipment problems and providing crew members with safety-of-flight information. Their decisions should also take into account financial and scheduling considerations having to do with the companies with which they work.

While a flight is in progress, dispatchers monitor it through the use of sophisticated technologies, and they advise the captain and crew of anything that might compromise their safety and the safety of passengers. Video surveillance helps dispatchers to follow traffic patterns and other in-air activity. Dispatchers also work with telephones and equipment such as radios, computers, and an Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS). The latter, a digital system, allows dispatchers to communicate with crew members via short and simple messages that are transmitted via satellite or radio.

Training to become a flight dispatcher often involves advanced flight planning instruction whereby students in meteorology courses might learn about TAF forecasts or statements about weather conditions that are expected at an airport over a certain amount of time. Meteorology-related training might also involve learning to read and interpret what's known as METAR weather reporting formats that pilots use in pre-flight weather briefings.

It's important for flight dispatchers also to understand Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) en-route low and high altitude charts that are designed for navigation within specific altitudes. Students in aviation degree programs that can lead to careers as flight dispatchers might also expect to study aircraft performance, air traffic management, and more. At least one specialized aviation program for flight dispatchers provides intensive studies of Boeing 737-800 Aircraft Systems as well as insight into take-off performance issues, runways, international flight operations, and extended twin engine operations.

Aviation dispatchers in the United States are licensed. They obtain this licensing by taking FAA Aircraft Dispatcher Written and Oral/Practical certification exams. The written exam, at least, is the same exam that airline transport pilots take. Licensing isn't always required for work as flight followers, who in some instances perform dispatching duties without the legal responsibility. However, flight followers often are encouraged to become licensed anyway. In order to take the exam, students often are required to have taken at least six semesters of aviation instruction. Aircraft dispatcher credentials as far as education goes might in some instances be offered as part of a specialized program for students who fill certain requirements. Others might be associated with more general aviation degrees from a variety of colleges.

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