Airline Dispatchers

jawright

jawright

Well-Known Member
Dumb question...Can anyone tell me how and where can one get their FAA dispatch license? What else do you have to do to qualify for a job as an airline dispatcher?
I really enjoy weather and flight planning, so I thought that after earning my CFI tickets, I might want to get a dispatch license as a fallback option...

Any thoughts?
 
There are several places that you can go to get a Dispatcher ticket. I got mine at MTSU (my degree is actually with a Scheduling and Dispatch emphasis). You can also go to a school like this one , or this one . Check them out. . .

To qualify as a job as a Dispatcher? We have a couple of Dispatchers for Skywest around here . . . perhaps they'll chime in.

I never made it past getting the certificate. . .
grin.gif
 
I’ve been interested in getting the dispatcher ticket for a while now. The requirements to attend a school are few and it seems that as long as you’ve got your head screwed on straight and diligently study you can pass the test. But what about actually getting a job? For you current dispatchers out there, how much prior aviation experience do most new hires have? Anyone know of someone without even a private pilot ticket getting a job as a dispatcher at an airline? I know you have to have aviation knowledge and be familiar with the FARs, etc., but that can be learned without stepping in an airplane.

Still debating whether to get a dispatcher ticket BEFORE the PPL and then work for an airline while working on ratings. Any thoughts?
 
jawright,

As you said, the dispatch certificate is issued by the FAA, just like a pilot certificate. In fact the two look almost identical. The process of earning one is similar to that of earning a pilot certificate. You must take a written exam and a "checkride" with a designated examiner.

The written exam (ADX) is identical to the ATP written. Obviously this can be quite overwhelming for someone with no aviation background. Honestly, I don't know how they do it. I have my ASEL/AMEL, commercial and instrument ratings and it took me a couple weeks to feel prepared for the test. [brag]96%[/brag]

Most schools run two types of courses. A regular course that runs 5+ weeks, and an accelerated course usually in the 2 to 1 week range. The way it usually works is this: The 5 week course spends the first 3 weeks preparing for the ADX written. The accelerated students jump into class for the remaining 2 weeks where the "meat" of dispatching is taught.
To qualify for an accelerated course you must have prior experience. Reference FAR 65 Subpart C for more info. The FARs. If you have your CFI you would qualify.

www.dispatcher.org has a lot of great information. You can find a list of schools under "About The Dispatch Profession" > "Schools".

This link is to how SkyWest describes the job along with their qualifications and new hire info.

Raskolnikov,

You're correct. As long as you have your head on straight and have good study habits, you'll do just fine. In my class only two of us had flying credentials. The sharpest kid in my class had absolutley zero aviation experience before coming to dispatch school. He had job offers before finishing class and I'm sure he's doing a damn fine job wherever he ended up. Prior experience is good, but it's not mandatory. A lot of airlines prefer to hire from within. Someone that has experience in the industry and understands what it's all about would definitely have a leg up.

Airlines are hiring right now. The career path parallels a pilots in many ways. You start at a smaller carrier - low pay, bad schedule. Right about the time you start to get enough seniority to hold a good schedule and make a decent living you'll be ready to apply to one of the larger carriers. Once there your schedule will again suck, but you're willing to overlook that because they pay you well. We just lost two dispatchers to mainline CAL.

Some of the people I work with are pilots, some are not. No matter what their background, everyone enjoys aviation. You have to. Why else would someone be crazy enough to work in this industry?

Good luck with whatever you guys decide to do. This is a great job where you can learn a metric butt load. Hell, I even have to refresh pilots on some of the FARs every now and then.
laugh.gif
 
I used to work with them all the time when I worked at Frontier. Many times I felt like "Dispatcher's Assistant" shoud have been my job title. I learned a ton and had fun too. In talking with them I kinda gathered that it was alot of work, a ton of work actually, and the pay was getting less and less just like every other position in this industry. Their hours are just like those of pilots pretty much too which as we all know aren't the best.

There was one in my new hire class and he came from another airline. I think it was National Airlines out of Vegas but he said getting a job at a real airline is nearly as competitive as the pilot positions. You may think yeah, but how many people grow up to want to be dispatchers, but you also have to consider that each airline only needs a handful at most.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top