What is an FAA Aircraft Dispatcher?
"The Captain on the Ground"
An FAA Aircraft Dispatcher can go by several different job titles or industry jargon, sometimes it can be confusing to keep up with! Some job titles or slang for an aircraft dispatcher can include;
Aircraft Dispatcher
Flight Dispatcher
Flight Superintendent
"The Captain on the Ground"
An Aircraft Dispatcher in the United States plays a key role in helping run the daily operation of the airline! As an aircraft dispatcher, you'll be creating flight plans, analyzing and reviewing weather, planning weight and balance for the flights you're managing and much more.
It's also a great job opportunity because you'll be one of the few people in the airline that "see how the whole thing works". An aircraft dispatcher will usually be based in an airline control center. Within that control center there will be teams of people from other departments and you will support each other in maintaining the daily operation!
Being a flight dispatcher can "open the doors" to a lot of great advancement opportunities within airlines and the aviation industry in general. This is because an aircraft dispatcher has received specialized training and during their career, have been exposed to the inner workings of an airline and its operation! These are special and unique skills and when you acquire them, allow to be a highly desired candidate for good paying advancement opportunities, if that is something that interests you.
The beauty about the aircraft dispatcher job field is that every day is different! Meaning you are not going be moving papers from the left side of your desk, to the right side and back again...every single day.
I believe most aircraft dispatchers feel a level of satisfaction at the end of the shift, knowing their role made a difference in someone's life that day! Greeting a pilot over the phone or radio, maximizing an aircraft payload to ensure all of customers were able to board the flight, effectively reviewing the weather to ensure you keep your customers, flight crew members and aircraft safe are just some of the tasks aircraft dispatchers handle on a daily basis.
Some duties of an FAA Aircraft Dispatcher include;
-Flight planning
-Fuel & payload planning
-Weather observing and reporting hazardous conditions to the flight crew
-Coordinating certain ground operations at various airports your flights are flying to
-Reviewing NOTAM’s and supporting the crew for any issues that may arise.
Will some days be stressful? Of course, it would be unrealistic to think any job would not have stress. You'll also have a few easy days....literally, somehow, everything operates on time, no mechanical issues, VFR weather across the board and some days (it won't happen often) your desk phone might not even ring during an entire shift!
Take the first steps today and learn more about our FAA Aircraft Dispatcher training program!
Where Do Aircraft Dispatchers Work?
The Dispatch Office
Every airlines dispatch office may be slightly different but generally speaking, the airlines dispatch office will either be at or very close the airlines headquarters offices. The simple reason is that airline executives want to be close to the "heart" of the operation, which is going to be the Flight Dispatch Office.
SOC, OCC, NOC, IOC, Say What?
In the last 15 Years, airlines have started to get creative with the name of their dispatch office. For a long time, most airline dispatch offices went by the name of "System Operations Control" or SOC.
However more recently, airlines have become more savvy in their marketing and collaboration. Now you'll find all kinds of variations but at the end of the day, they are all a dispatch office.
A Few Examples below include:
Delta's Office is called an OCC = Operations & Customer Care Center
American Airlines IOC = Integrated Operations Center
Southwest Airlines NOC = Network Operations Center
FEDEX GOC = Global Operations Center
Working In An Airline Dispatch Office is a Team Effort!
Once you start your training, you'll realize the significant team effort that is required to run an airline. As a flight dispatcher or aircraft dispatcher, you'll be working closely with other departments such as crew scheduling and maintenance control as issues arise with crew duty time or trip changes or mechanical issues with aircraft.
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