Dispatch vs Flight Coordinator?

gullwing93

gullwing93

Well-Known Member
I'm currently interviewing for a Flight Coordinator position for a 135. I eventually want to end up dispatching at a 121.

Can someone outline the differences between Flight Coordinator and Dispatcher? I know the big legal responsibility one, but are there other things I should know?

Also, would being a flight coordinator for a time help me get on with a 121 in dispatch?

Thanks, guys!
 
If you’re a “flight coordinator,” especially if it is for a smaller charter airline, you can more than likely expect actual flight following to constitute just a small portion of your job. You will take care of customer service, trip planning , quoting, booking, crew scheduling, finding hotels for crews, event planning, ordering catering, setting up customs if the trip is international, setting up ground handling/fueling/services, figuring out how much cargo or passengers you can take, placating VIPs/management/pilots, as well as anything and everything else under the sun as needed.

It beats nothing, but as someone who has been there, it’s really a drag after a while. Cranking out releases at a regional is probably a better career move, especially as actual 121 experience is nice to have. But hey, that’s just my opinion.
 
Well, my first shot at a 121 for DX didn't take off (ha) but I need to do something in the meantime. I'm just wondering if it's silly to take this job and expect it to boost my chances of getting on at a 121.
 
I don't think it is silly at all. While it is a whole lot more of the backend stuff than dispatching, it still gets you used to looking at weather, notams, airport charts, etc. Just remember, a job at a 135 is better than not having a job at all.
 
bbmikej said:
I don't think it is silly at all. While it is a whole lot more of the backend stuff than dispatching, it still gets you used to looking at weather, notams, airport charts, etc. Just remember, a job at a 135 is better than not having a job at all.
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I'm currently at a 145 and just straight up not having a good time. But I also don't really see how staying here would get me more experience. Will a major consider flight coordinating similar enough to dispatch to be dispatch? Or do you literally need the work dispatcher in your title for it to mean anything?
 
I would love to have an answer for you. But seeing as how I'm at a regional, I don't seem to know what the majors are looking for.
 
gullwing93 said:
I'm currently at a 145 and just straight up not having a good time. But I also don't really see how staying here would get me more experience. Will a major consider flight coordinating similar enough to dispatch to be dispatch? Or do you literally need the work dispatcher in your title for it to mean anything?
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I believe that majors generally like to see 121 dispatching experience before they will hire you. 121 Supplemental is fine, but they want to see something other than 135 ops.
 
gullwing93 said:
I'm currently interviewing for a Flight Coordinator position for a 135. I eventually want to end up dispatching at a 121.

Can someone outline the differences between Flight Coordinator and Dispatcher? I know the big legal responsibility one, but are there other things I should know?

Also, would being a flight coordinator for a time help me get on with a 121 in dispatch?

Thanks, guys!
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Do you have a job?
Do you want a new job?
Is this a job you’re interested in?
Does this job pay enough to survive?
Is this job in an area you can stand to live?
If you have a job, is this potential job worth leaving your current job?
Will this new job put yourself and career in motion for for the direction you want to go?
Etc.

There is no cookie cutter path to a major. If no regionals are hiring/hiring you, then start smaller. Is a major going to look down on a random flight follower/coordinator? Might not look at you at all even after years of doing that job then moving to a regional. Majors skip over qualified dedicated professionals thousands of times a year between the 4 of them. What makes you special? Interesting? Different?

It sounds like you a have a nice clean slate. As someone who worked at a regional as a crew scheduler than dispatcher for almost 5 years I can say I’m lucky. My time was quick. Every regional has their 15-20+ years crowd. Some of them got hired by majors 18 years ago and got dumped from 9/11. I had a great and respected referral. A relationship I kept up with from college over 6-7 years. I tried to be a great worker and be someone that others wanted to sit by and work with. I helped others with resumes or pick up slack from too many flights or irregular situations. I understood when I could and maybe shouldn’t enter a conversation. I tried to be knowledgeable without being a know it all. When it was my time to shine I failed. Failed again. Failed again. Then succeeded. This can be a hard egg to crack. You’re resume, other than format, is almost insignificant to the connections you make, experience you gain, work ethic, and maybe most importantly social awareness in an open air office will help you make your goals.

I didn’t go that route, but I work with folks who have done similar things. They’re not defined by where they started. You won’t be either. If you’re not willing to play the long game then look forward to being disappointed over and over again. Best of luck in your endeavors.
 
gullwing93 said:
I'm currently interviewing for a Flight Coordinator position for a 135. I eventually want to end up dispatching at a 121.

Can someone outline the differences between Flight Coordinator and Dispatcher? I know the big legal responsibility one, but are there other things I should know?

Also, would being a flight coordinator for a time help me get on with a 121 in dispatch?

Thanks, guys!
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At 121: you're a dispatcher
At 135: you're whatever your company wants you to be
 
Crop Duster said:
At 121: you're a dispatcher
At 135: you're whatever your company wants you to be
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Yeah this is 100% accurate. I'm currently working at a 91/135 as a "flight controller". I applied for this job because I thought it would be a good step towards a 121 dispatcher. I don't have a dispatch cert. right now. I like the job when I get to stick to the duties in my department (day shift), however it can get overwhelming quickly when other jobs get thrown on you. On weekends, nights, and holidays you can expect to be picking up the roles of the schedulers who deal directly with the clients. We also now are performing fuel desk functions sometimes. When I first started I was pretty overwhelmed because you can easily answer a call from a client who assumes you are familiar with their operation. It takes a lot of time to get familiar with a particular client. The clients all have different procedures (Might use our Intl. team or Universal Weather for handling, Use different car services, have different standards of replying to emails etc.). When it's not busy, we can handle doing other jobs but it's pretty challenging when we are trying to get the flight control work done and are dealing with unfamiliar scheduling work on the side.
 
In the long run all of that 135 experience dealing with oddball stuff is going to help you. period. I have worked 121/125/135 and even though the rules are different each job I have had has helped me. I have worked with people in the past while at my 135 gig that had previous scheduled 121 experience and they did nothing but flounder. Being able to think outside the box is essential in the non sched/135 world and you have to be able to adjust on the fly. Planning the same flights day in to day out from gate to gate is NOT going to help.
 
QXSOUP said:
In the long run all of that 135 experience dealing with oddball stuff is going to help you. period. I have worked 121/125/135 and even though the rules are different each job I have had has helped me. I have worked with people in the past while at my 135 gig that had previous scheduled 121 experience and they did nothing but flounder. Being able to think outside the box is essential in the non sched/135 world and you have to be able to adjust on the fly. Planning the same flights day in to day out from gate to gate is NOT going to help.
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That's really good to hear. Thanks:)
 
I got my certificate at the end of February. Didn't get a call from a 121 so I took a position at a 135. The location was good for me so I wasn't too worried about moving to a 121 ASAP. I ended up getting a call from a 121 last month and am now in training. I enjoyed my time "dispatching" at the 135. I think it is impossible to say what you should do but maybe consider what you want to do while you wait for a 121 to call. Do you want to maximize how much money you make, your location, your enjoyment of the job, etc.?
 
QXDX said:
Don't be so quick to discount business aviation. I recently left 121 to go to a Part 91 operation. In every meaningful way, it is better than the airlines: better pay, better benefits, better schedule, and more interesting work.
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I'm sure it's better pay than a regional carrier. Long term, though, I doubt it is better than a major. Of course, I could be wrong! For me it comes down to joint responsibility...if you're not working in the 121 arena, you don't have it.
 
manniax said:
I'm sure it's better pay than a regional carrier. Long term, though, I doubt it is better than a major. Of course, I could be wrong! For me it comes down to joint responsibility...if you're not working in the 121 arena, you don't have it.
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I know a guy who works for a very famous person who happens to own a bunch of business jets. He plans flights and does other small stuff like arranging FBO services and stuff like that. He makes WELL north of 200k, has every weekend/holiday off. The majors isn't the endgame some people believe it to be.
 
QXSOUP said:
I know a guy who works for a very famous person who happens to own a bunch of business jets. He plans flights and does other small stuff like arranging FBO services and stuff like that. He makes WELL north of 200k, has every weekend/holiday off. The majors isn't the endgame some people believe it to be.
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Everyone needs to seek out a job that fits them the best - but I imagine the number of jobs like the one you described is fairly small, and would likely include some crew scheduling responsibilities. This is not to say it's a bad gig or anything, I just personally hate anything to do with crew scheduling after dealing briefly with it on the 135 side of a regional airline I was at before they went all 121. I have also known people that worked in non-121 operations that were constantly on call at night away from the office, which I would also hate. FWIW, a few people I work with at my major make more than 300K with overtime (although they work a LOT of overtime, and of course, they don't have every weekend and holiday off.)
 
Honestly, when it comes to progressing upward from a 135, YMMV. I started at a 135, went to a 121 as a flight ops coordinator after a few months, and then moved to dispatching at a 121 supplemental after a couple years. I’ve moved to another aviation job since, but I like to think my upward trajectory through the airlines started at a small 135 operation. I like to think my experience from the first two places got me to the supplemental operation.
 
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