Dispatch position

M

maxshuty

Well-Known Member
I have a degree in Air traffic control, after I graduated I got a job in a factory and took advice of many Atc "apply and pretend it doesn't exist." So I've been doing that and going about my life... it's been two years now. I'm sick and tired of waiting and working in a box factory that is 150 degrees in the summer.

Recently I started searching dispatch positions and I found one in the area I'm interested in working at. My problem is that I don't have a dispatch license. So the obvious answer is to go get it. I will be traveling this weekend and it just so happens to be the same place that has the dispatch position available. My question is since I will be around the area anyway would it hurt to go speak to someone from the company about this position? Or would I look dumb since I don't even have the dispatch license yet? How long does it usually take to fill these positions? If I should hoe should I explain the ATC background without them thinking I'm going to jump ship when I hear from the FAA for ATC? Right now I just want something easier than being cooked alive in a factory and something more reliable than how ATC has been.

And last - how long do you think ill need to go to school? Five weeks, two...? I have the Atc background from school and hours and hours of simulations. I also have a background with flying. I don't have my PPL simply from a lack of funding, but I have several solo hours and 30+ with an instructor. I've done tons of flight plans but it has been about two years since I've been able to fly.

Any advice from those of you in the industry is appreciated.

-Regards, Max
 
maxshuty said:
I have a degree in Air traffic control, after I graduated I got a job in a factory and took advice of many Atc "apply and pretend it doesn't exist." So I've been doing that and going about my life... it's been two years now. I'm sick and tired of waiting and working in a box factory that is 150 degrees in the summer.

Recently I started searching dispatch positions and I found one in the area I'm interested in working at. My problem is that I don't have a dispatch license. So the obvious answer is to go get it. I will be traveling this weekend and it just so happens to be the same place that has the dispatch position available. My question is since I will be around the area anyway would it hurt to go speak to someone from the company about this position? Or would I look dumb since I don't even have the dispatch license yet? How long does it usually take to fill these positions? If I should hoe should I explain the ATC background without them thinking I'm going to jump ship when I hear from the FAA for ATC? Right now I just want something easier than being cooked alive in a factory and something more reliable than how ATC has been.

And last - how long do you think ill need to go to school? Five weeks, two...? I have the Atc background from school and hours and hours of simulations. I also have a background with flying. I don't have my PPL simply from a lack of funding, but I have several solo hours and 30+ with an instructor. I've done tons of flight plans but it has been about two years since I've been able to fly.

Any advice from those of you in the industry is appreciated.

-Regards, Max
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Firstly, they won't even give you an interview without a license unless it is just a flight follower position.

Secondly I, like you, got my CTI degree but recognized only a short way into the program that most of what I was being fed about hiring and pay was absolute BS and that it would be a LOOOOOONG time before I saw an academy date, if ever. So I got my DX license as part of the program and it turned out to be the best decision I ever made. This has been borne out by many of my peers from school, none of whom have yet to get a call and the people I have met who have been called are still waiting endlessly for a date to go to OKC. There are many people who are dispatchers now who are either still waiting or have given up waiting on the CTI hiring catastrophe (there should honestly be a massive lawsuit against the FAA and the schools who continue to promote "guaranteed six figure jobs when you graduate!!!" if given the opportunity I would kick my old CTI adviser square in the junk)

With your CTI and pilot background a quick 3-5 week licensing course should not be too much of a struggle for you since you will have a lot of basic aviation knowledge to build off of.

The money starting out isn't the ATC pay you will have been promised from your CTI school, but in some cases it isn't too far off and top end pay at majors in many cases matches or exceeds ATC. Schedule and QOL is far superior in the DX world, IMO. Regionals probably won't care if you plan to jump ship to ATC (again, lots of CTI applicants are working at the regionals) but then they don't pay much either and the reason they don't care is that they are well aware that most CTI applicants will be around for several years before getting hired. At my first regional out of 25 dispatchers 10 of us had CTI degrees and several people had been through upwards of 8 hiring panels; the only guy hired by the FAA while I was working there had been waiting for 4 years. The rest are still waiting and/or have moved on to major airlines and are making a career out of Dispatch like me.

Good luck to you. Let us know where you are thinking of applying and we can help you out even more.
 
Max,

I would encourage you to engage in a conversation with the airline and see if you can "sit in" with dispatch for a little bit. It's just good sense to get an idea of what your work would be like before investing in that work!

Getting an ATC position is notoriously difficult, so don't be discouraged by the time it's taking.. If ATC is your passion, keep pounding on that door until someone opens up. You might just find though that dispatch is just as fulfilling, if not more so!
 
I would second what pljenkins told ya... It's really how I ended up with my first job. I made that contact, toured the SOC and maintained that contact. Ultimately I ended up working there.
 
Hello, am a guy wit almost zero experience on aviation, and I really want to start mycareer as a DISPATCHER. I am a nigerian. Please I need an advice on which dispatche school do I need to go ( as a starter)? Because am a bit nervours on some the conversation and reviews I read on about certain dispatch schools and another. My only goal here is to get my licence. Lastly, can I be able to get hired in my country( nigeria) with an FAA licence? Please help me.
 
kaidanaka said:
Hello, am a guy wit almost zero experience on aviation, and I really want to start mycareer as a DISPATCHER. I am a nigerian. Please I need an advice on which dispatche school do I need to go ( as a starter)? Because am a bit nervours on some the conversation and reviews I read on about certain dispatch schools and another. My only goal here is to get my licence. Lastly, can I be able to get hired in my country( nigeria) with an FAA licence? Please help me.
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In my class at Jeppesen, we had 7 people from Nigeria. All were flight attendants wanting to change their career to Dispatch. To my knowledge, none have gained employment in Nigeria as a dispatcher. The ones that I'm still contact with are still working as flight attendants and it's been 7 months since we got our license.

I would try to get in touch with someone in operations there to see what your chances of getting a job there are. Like I said, my classmates haven't had any luck...

Without any prior aviation experience, school would be difficult. Possible, but difficult. I would recommend you do a lot of studying prior to leaving for school. As far as which school to go to...that's a decision you'll have to make based on your personal needs. I would contact a number of different schools and speak with them about your specific situation and see which one will work best for you.

Good luck!
 
kaidanaka said:
Hello, am a guy wit almost zero experience on aviation, and I really want to start mycareer as a DISPATCHER. I am a nigerian. Please I need an advice on which dispatche school do I need to go ( as a starter)? Because am a bit nervours on some the conversation and reviews I read on about certain dispatch schools and another. My only goal here is to get my licence. Lastly, can I be able to get hired in my country( nigeria) with an FAA licence? Please help me.
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At IFOD my class had two from Nigeria, one is now a dispatcher there, and the other is still working in Arik's cargo department. We also had one each from Syria and Iran...
 
Thank you very much and I really appreciate your response. And for IFOD school I need some additional information about the fees etc.
 
kaidanaka said:
@womanpilot...thank you too, and am looking forward to hear from you soon
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Just call the schools you are interested in and they will give you all the info you need to make a decision. A lot of the information can be found on their websites. Good luck :)
 
kaidanaka said:
Hello, am a guy wit almost zero experience on aviation, and I really want to start mycareer as a DISPATCHER. I am a nigerian. Please I need an advice on which dispatche school do I need to go ( as a starter)? Because am a bit nervours on some the conversation and reviews I read on about certain dispatch schools and another. My only goal here is to get my licence. Lastly, can I be able to get hired in my country( nigeria) with an FAA licence? Please help me.
Click to expand...

The honest fact, It won't matter where you go to get your license. Most of the stuff you are taught in class, you won't use in your dispatch career. I would as 90% of the stuff you learn, you will do on the job.
 
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