FlightDispatcher

The work

In much of the world a dispatcher is jointly responsible with the captain for the decision to operate. They build the flight plan, choose the fuel, pick the alternates, and stay with the flight while it is airborne — rerouting it around weather and finding it somewhere to go when its destination closes. It is a licensed role and almost nobody outside the industry knows it exists.

A typical day

• 01Build flight plans and fuel figures for a bank of departures
• 02Watch weather, notices and aircraft technical status across a fleet
• 03Reroute an airborne flight around a developing problem
• 04Speak to captains as a colleague with shared authority, not as support

How people get in

• Dispatcher course

  A few months full time, then a licence check ride. No degree required.

• From operations

  Airlines often sponsor the course for people already working in ops or load control.

How it unfolds

1. Months 1-6The certificate course, then a check ride with a real examiner.
2. Year 1Assistant or a quiet shift, learning the fleet, the routes and the weather patterns.
3. Years 2-5Full desk. A bank of departures is yours, and the captains talk to you as a colleague.
4. LaterDuty manager or operations control, coordinating a whole airline through a bad day.

Is there a job in it

The hard parts

A bad weather day is eight hours of decisions with real money and real safety on each one, and you cannot leave the desk. Shifts cover the whole clock. Almost nobody outside the industry understands what you do, including, at first, your family.

What you would need

• Meteorology
• Performance and fuel planning
• Regulations
• Holding several flights in your head at once