Interested In Dispatching

A

anikethskywalker

New Member
Hi all! My name is Aniketh Nair and I am new to the Jet Careers community. I have future plans to work in the aviation industry and wanted to join a community of like-minded people for any advice! I am considering going to dispatch school to become a flight dispatcher and had some questions about it.

To provide some context, I am 25 year old graduate from the University of Houston with 2-3 years of experience in the supply chain industry working for Flexport and FedEx Corporate. I really hate working in this field and I've always had a liking towards aviation, and so I decided I want to make a career change and settle in the aviation industry. I want to become a pilot but the cost of flight school is a huge barrier for me right now so I thought it would be a good idea to save up. My idea is to become a flight dispatcher and gain some years of experience with this while saving up some money to pay towards flight school. If flight school works out after this then that's great and if it doesn't, I'll still enjoy being a dispatcher.

I've learned from research that most dispatchers have 10-hour workdays with a 4 on 3 off schedule. I just wanted to do my due diligence and ask you fellow dispatchers here, how is your work-life balance with this job? Does it differ regionals vs majors? And speaking of majors, I've heard that working your way to a dispatcher at a major is tough and that some end up being a dispatcher at a regional for the majority of their career. Is this true?
 
Unfortunately, you probably won't be able to save up to become a pilot working as a regional dispatcher (which you probably would be for at least 3-5 years). 20/hr doesn't go far where most of the regionals are meaning you wouldn't have much to save for flight school. If being a pilot is your ultimate goal, see if you can get a promotion where you are and bank the extra money.
 
anikethskywalker said:
Hi all! My name is Aniketh Nair and I am new to the Jet Careers community. I have future plans to work in the aviation industry and wanted to join a community of like-minded people for any advice! I am considering going to dispatch school to become a flight dispatcher and had some questions about it.

To provide some context, I am 25 year old graduate from the University of Houston with 2-3 years of experience in the supply chain industry working for Flexport and FedEx Corporate. I really hate working in this field and I've always had a liking towards aviation, and so I decided I want to make a career change and settle in the aviation industry. I want to become a pilot but the cost of flight school is a huge barrier for me right now so I thought it would be a good idea to save up. My idea is to become a flight dispatcher and gain some years of experience with this while saving up some money to pay towards flight school. If flight school works out after this then that's great and if it doesn't, I'll still enjoy being a dispatcher.

I've learned from research that most dispatchers have 10-hour workdays with a 4 on 3 off schedule. I just wanted to do my due diligence and ask you fellow dispatchers here, how is your work-life balance with this job? Does it differ regionals vs majors? And speaking of majors, I've heard that working your way to a dispatcher at a major is tough and that some end up being a dispatcher at a regional for the majority of their career. Is this true?
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I can't speak for other regional but Republic Airways has the dispatcher apprentice program that is very competitive and will give you your dispatcher certificate for free in exchange for two years working for them. We have our own flight school and after a year here you can apply for the flight school and if you get selected training is half off
 
bbmikej said:
Unfortunately, you probably won't be able to save up to become a pilot working as a regional dispatcher (which you probably would be for at least 3-5 years). 20/hr doesn't go far where most of the regionals are meaning you wouldn't have much to save for flight school. If being a pilot is your ultimate goal, see if you can get a promotion where you are and bank the extra money.
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You're right, that may be the best option. I guess I was thinking about the airlines that pay about $50-$60k per year but I'm not sure how common that is or if dispatchers starting out get that much. I guess the sacrifice for working corporate for a little while longer will be worth it in the long-run haha. Thanks for the advice!
 
Spook Johnson said:
I can't speak for other regional but Republic Airways has the dispatcher apprentice program that is very competitive and will give you your dispatcher certificate for free in exchange for two years working for them. We have our own flight school and after a year here you can apply for the flight school and if you get selected training is half off
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Did not know such a program existed, thank you for telling me! I will definitely look into it!
 
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