Advice re: dispatching

[Rosstafari]

So, I'm one of JetCareers many ATC applicants who's been held up in the hiring process due to budget cuts and training congestion. I'm at the point where I've received a TOL (Tentative Offer Letter -- a letter showing that they intend to hire you at a specific facility) and have completed my clearances, but the very earliest I'll be able to begin training is October, probably later. With that said, so my wife can get started on the next step of her career, we're moving up to Seattle in a week, which is where I've been slated for.

That gives me several months to do something else, and I'd like to stay in aviation. I've been weighing picking up a dispatch license. Even though I'd only be doing it short term, I think it'd be of some value towards ATC, and it'd make a good backup in case I find that controlling isn't for me. Alaska's also looking for a temporary assistant dispatcher at the time, so there could be a place for me there, although that's obviously an uncertainty.

So here's where I need advice from the JC community: given the short timeframe I have to work with here, do you think it's work looking into, regardless of the Alaska bit? Would you do so if you were in my shoes? If so, do you have any advice on the best way to go about it (I'm looking at a mostly-online course, relying partially on what I've learned while getting a PPL)? If not, any advice on other areas of aviation I could look into?

I know this is a pretty broad question, but I'm receptive to suggestions here. Thanks for any that y'all have to offer.

 

[skydog2]

If you don't have an aviation background, the dispatcher license might be a good thing to get. It would give you some foundation in aircraft operations that will be helpful for ATC. If for some reason ATC doesn't work out, you'd at least have a skill airline employers need. Another thing to consider is that major airlines employ air traffic control coordinators, which is basically a liaison between the airline's dispatch center and ATC. If you had ATC experience and a dispatch license, you would be a good candidate for position like that. Bottom line is that getting a dispatch license won't hurt you.

RE: the Alaska job: Even assistant dispatcher jobs these days go to highly experienced people. It doesn't seem very likely that they would pick you up with a fresh license and no experience, but stranger things have happened. More likely you would be looking for a regional airline with which to begin your career.

 

[washburn26]

I started training for ATC last April (PUBNAT2) and am now training at my facility. I was a dispatcher for a little over 2 years in St. Louis for Gojet. Working in flight control for an airline has helped immensely in the training. I am not knocking anyone who came off the street but you have a heads up on tons of stuff by being a dispatcher first. We were actually talking about this a few weeks ago at work and came to the conclusion that the jobs that prepare you best are airline dispatcher/pilot (while possessing a PPL helps, there is so much more you learn by flying non-stop at a commercial/corporate airline) and military controller/pilot. I don't regret being a dispatcher at all. You get to experience first hand so many things that they try to teach in a classroom. It definitely helps with the learning curve.

 

[washburn26]

The main things to consider are:

Most courses are roughly 6 weeks long. Mine cost about $5000. Most entry level positions may only pay around $14/hr or so. If you signed up today for dispatch school, it could be anywhere from several weeks to a couple months before you could start. I think there may be some online courses somewhere but if I recall you still have to attend several days or weeks of classroom training to graduate. Then it is another month and a half till you are done. Then you have the hiring process to deal with. By the time you start at an airline it could easily be summer. Also, make sure that there are places looking to hire dispatchers around where you will live. It would suck to start to commit to this and then find out no one is hiring where you are moving to. If someone is hiring, talk to them before paying for a school. Seems to be a little harder to find nowadays, but some companies will pay for people they hire to go to school.

 

[Rosstafari]

Thanks for the advice everyone. How the FAA decides to deal with the additional cuts Obama has proposed lately will probably determine how much longer I'll be waiting on training -- and therefore, whether or I'll take a shot at this. I'll let y'all know.

Always open to additional advice, by the way, so if anybody has any in the future, lemme know.