Journey to major airline dispatcher

A

Athlaka

Well-Known Member
Hi everyone! Long time lurker here, finally made an account so I can "lurk" publicly now. I'm currently working in ground ops for Southwest and looking to transition into dispatch. I graduated an atc-cti program in 2011 and received my dispatch license as well that same year. With the grim outlook into atc given my age (28) and their turbulent hiring practices, I've focused my efforts into dispatch. My question is this: are there any recurrent training programs or classes I can take? I've forgotten the majority of what I've learned over 4 years ago. Recently I've gone over the ATP gleim book and reading wx charts/theory but I still feel woefully underprepared.

The second part of my question - would I be better off dispatching for a regional at my age for a few years and then jump to a major or continue in ground ops in the hope they prioritize internals?
 
Heyo, welcome aboard.

To begin, a dispatch license doesn't require any recurrent training for the FAA. Whatever carrier hires you will, however, have their own recurrent training that they will provide. That's pretty much as far as it goes in terms of official but I should mention a good dispatcher is always learning something. Don't put the books away! You're never done learning.

And regarding that second part, you probably have clicked around and seen by now how getting the first job is always the hardest step (or however it's always phrased). Couldn't be more accurate. Apply everywhere, then see what happens. If it's a regional that says yes, cool. But don't be afraid of shotgunning applications out as the positions are posted.

what else what else.....

Oh! I don't know what you mean by "grim outlook into ATC," especially at the age of 28. You've got time, and a lot of folks I used to work with back in NH got their phone call and are headed down to OKC.

Anything else I missed I am sure someone else can or will address....This forum's pretty sick, and it's also incredibly helpful if you let it.
 
I was in a similar position as you, I got my license when I was 28, although I didnt go to school for ATC, but I was working mainline Delta on the ramp. My original plan was to try and go the internal route at Delta, I had a few years in and thought that would be the best option. While still in school I applied and interviewed at Compass (they came to our class and interviewed 4 of us), more or less to see what the interview was like. Well I ended up getting a job offer, and after thinking it over and talking with others, family and friends in the business, including a sector manager at Delta, I decided to gain actual dispatch experience rather then hope I get in as an internal some day.

So I took the job at Compass, left my mainline and took a good pay cut to do it. Worked my way up at Compass, and was recently hired by United. Everyone's situation is different, but my advice would be to start working as a dispatcher now. Southwest has already said they are done hiring large classes. I don't know if that's true, but that's what I heard, meaning that its just going to be harder to get in internally or externally. I'm unaware of their internal hiring polices, but you could be among a large number of internals trying to get in. But if you really want to be a dispatcher, I would suggest getting out there and start dispatching. I honestly couldn't even imagine going to a Major without any experience, because they expect alot more from you.

As you brushing up on your skills. Yes, do that. During my time at Compass, I became a supervisor and was involved in interviewing new dispatchers, and its extremely painful interviewing people that dont study or are out of touch with there skills. Make sure you know the basics when you interview. Reading weather, deriving alt mins, reading plates, 1-2-3 rule. Know the 101 stuff, and be confident in it. Don't expect a regional to be ok with the fact you dont remember anything from school, because there are alot of candidates out there just coming out of school. As to where you can do this, I wish I could help, I'm not aware of any kind of refresher courses. Maybe take a PPL ground school class? You can find those for cheap or even free sometimes, go over your old notes, talk to current dispatchers (use this forum). Do whatever you need to, to refresh your knowledge.
 
I'm not sure where you went to school to get your license but some schools allow you to sit through the course again at no cost, as a refresher.
 
Also, so many now have distance learning programs and will provide you, as a former graduate, access to the online study materials. Just an idea...not sure if that applies to the school you went to.
 
Burrito said:
Heyo, welcome aboard.

To begin, a dispatch license doesn't require any recurrent training for the FAA. Whatever carrier hires you will, however, have their own recurrent training that they will provide. That's pretty much as far as it goes in terms of official but I should mention a good dispatcher is always learning something. Don't put the books away! You're never done learning.

And regarding that second part, you probably have clicked around and seen by now how getting the first job is always the hardest step (or however it's always phrased). Couldn't be more accurate. Apply everywhere, then see what happens. If it's a regional that says yes, cool. But don't be afraid of shotgunning applications out as the positions are posted.

what else what else.....

Oh! I don't know what you mean by "grim outlook into ATC," especially at the age of 28. You've got time, and a lot of folks I used to work with back in NH got their phone call and are headed down to OKC.

Anything else I missed I am sure someone else can or will address....This forum's pretty sick, and it's also incredibly helpful if you let it.
Click to expand...
How much recurrent training did you get up there in DAY... :stir:
 
While there are exceptions to every rule, many of the recent SWA internals have come from inside the NOC such as crew scheduling and Flifo. Outside of the NOC, many of the flight attendants and ops agents hired have significant amount of time in the company in the 10-25 year range. The same can be said of some of the NOC internals. Many of the dispatchers hired recently externally by SWA have been in the industry for less time than most of the internals hired. While it is possible to get hired by SWA as an internal and they do like hiring internally, there is a lot of competition and your chances statistically arent that great. That being said you could get lucky.

With your age, I think its better to start dispatching at one of the regionals until you are certain that the ATC thing wont work out. Once you are certain you cant or dont want to do ATC then that is when I would try to get to a major airline. If you can get into ATC that would be better than working for a major airline in dispatch. Even though the top of scale pay for ATC isnt much different than major dispatch top of scale, the ATC benefits and retirement are much better. Once you retire at age 56 or whatever the retirement age becomes you could always go back to dispatching. At an airline, all you will likely get is a 401K for retirement.
 
only that op3 qtc dqt dfr weekly emails . #RoadToAMajor starts with you ignoring all flight following and coding your delays.
 
Not sure where you're based but I know FlightSafety in LGA offers a recurrent/refresher course... If I remember correctly, it's a 3 day class and costs about $500... I think they recently started an online something for DX as well. Give them a call. Very nice people over there.
 
Good day, athlaka

I was literally in the same swa boat about a 2 weeks ago. This forum is a great resource to use. LX sport/ flagship dxr are 100% correct. I have listened to the great advice posted here by experienced members like the ones in this thread and it has worked every time. Recently I took a great offer but I am still getting calls and interviews, Use this website as an asset to network and grow your knowledge. 4 years is a long time , but I felt rusty after 6 months ,I know someone with that many yrs out of school that took the flightsafety class and just got hired at psa. Dont wait for an opportunity , go out and take it. This is a great time to jump in the industry. Take advantage of that. Do what's best for you, good luck


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Burrito said:
Heyo, welcome aboard.

To begin, a dispatch license doesn't require any recurrent training for the FAA. Whatever carrier hires you will, however, have their own recurrent training that they will provide. That's pretty much as far as it goes in terms of official but I should mention a good dispatcher is always learning something. Don't put the books away! You're never done learning.

And regarding that second part, you probably have clicked around and seen by now how getting the first job is always the hardest step (or however it's always phrased). Couldn't be more accurate. Apply everywhere, then see what happens. If it's a regional that says yes, cool. But don't be afraid of shotgunning applications out as the positions are posted.

what else what else.....

Oh! I don't know what you mean by "grim outlook into ATC," especially at the age of 28. You've got time, and a lot of folks I used to work with back in NH got their phone call and are headed down to OKC.

Anything else I missed I am sure someone else can or will address....This forum's pretty sick, and it's also incredibly helpful if you let it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcome and response! Any materials/books you can recommend? I have 2011 stuff but I'm sure they're outdated by now..

LX Sport said:
I was in a similar position as you, I got my license when I was 28, although I didnt go to school for ATC, but I was working mainline Delta on the ramp. My original plan was to try and go the internal route at Delta, I had a few years in and thought that would be the best option. While still in school I applied and interviewed at Compass (they came to our class and interviewed 4 of us), more or less to see what the interview was like. Well I ended up getting a job offer, and after thinking it over and talking with others, family and friends in the business, including a sector manager at Delta, I decided to gain actual dispatch experience rather then hope I get in as an internal some day.

So I took the job at Compass, left my mainline and took a good pay cut to do it. Worked my way up at Compass, and was recently hired by United. Everyone's situation is different, but my advice would be to start working as a dispatcher now. Southwest has already said they are done hiring large classes. I don't know if that's true, but that's what I heard, meaning that its just going to be harder to get in internally or externally. I'm unaware of their internal hiring polices, but you could be among a large number of internals trying to get in. But if you really want to be a dispatcher, I would suggest getting out there and start dispatching. I honestly couldn't even imagine going to a Major without any experience, because they expect alot more from you.

As you brushing up on your skills. Yes, do that. During my time at Compass, I became a supervisor and was involved in interviewing new dispatchers, and its extremely painful interviewing people that dont study or are out of touch with there skills. Make sure you know the basics when you interview. Reading weather, deriving alt mins, reading plates, 1-2-3 rule. Know the 101 stuff, and be confident in it. Don't expect a regional to be ok with the fact you dont remember anything from school, because there are alot of candidates out there just coming out of school. As to where you can do this, I wish I could help, I'm not aware of any kind of refresher courses. Maybe take a PPL ground school class? You can find those for cheap or even free sometimes, go over your old notes, talk to current dispatchers (use this forum). Do whatever you need to, to refresh your knowledge.
Click to expand...

Congratulations on your journey! Aren't there just as many externals trying to get into Southwest though? I will definitely brush up on my knowledge; I don't believe I'm at the point of requiring a full blown dispatch course but I'm close (4+ years inactive).

womanpilot73 said:
Also, so many now have distance learning programs and will provide you, as a former graduate, access to the online study materials. Just an idea...not sure if that applies to the school you went to.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately my school does not offer any online refresher dx courses. I am looking into flightsaftey and flamingo as they offer a paid online refresher class of some sort.
Flagship_dxer said:
While there are exceptions to every rule, many of the recent SWA internals have come from inside the NOC such as crew scheduling and Flifo. Outside of the NOC, many of the flight attendants and ops agents hired have significant amount of time in the company in the 10-25 year range. The same can be said of some of the NOC internals. Many of the dispatchers hired recently externally by SWA have been in the industry for less time than most of the internals hired. While it is possible to get hired by SWA as an internal and they do like hiring internally, there is a lot of competition and your chances statistically arent that great. That being said you could get lucky.

With your age, I think its better to start dispatching at one of the regionals until you are certain that the ATC thing wont work out. Once you are certain you cant or dont want to do ATC then that is when I would try to get to a major airline. If you can get into ATC that would be better than working for a major airline in dispatch. Even though the top of scale pay for ATC isnt much different than major dispatch top of scale, the ATC benefits and retirement are much better. Once you retire at age 56 or whatever the retirement age becomes you could always go back to dispatching. At an airline, all you will likely get is a 401K for retirement.
Click to expand...

Would it be advisable to transition to crew scheduling or Flifo for 2-5 years and then onto dispatch? I have heard that it's easier to move around positions in the NOC if you're already there. ATC was my first choice, however, after the FAA erased all of the ATSAT scores (of which I scored a WQ on) and added a biographical questionnaire it has become significantly harder to get in (along with the pool of OTS applicants now on even footing).

JetCrew said:
Not sure where you're based but I know FlightSafety in LGA offers a recurrent/refresher course... If I remember correctly, it's a 3 day class and costs about $500... I think they recently started an online something for DX as well. Give them a call. Very nice people over there.
Click to expand...

Sent them an email thanks! I am interested.

stunnershow said:
Good day, athlaka

I was literally in the same swa boat about a 2 weeks ago. This forum is a great resource to use. LX sport/ flagship dxr are 100% correct. I have listened to the great advice posted here by experienced members like the ones in this thread and it has worked every time. Recently I took a great offer but I am still getting calls and interviews, Use this website as an asset to network and grow your knowledge. 4 years is a long time , but I felt rusty after 6 months ,I know someone with that many yrs out of school that took the flightsafety class and just got hired at psa. Dont wait for an opportunity , go out and take it. This is a great time to jump in the industry. Take advantage of that. Do what's best for you, good luck


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Definitely! Four years and I'm REALLY rusty. Was that flightsafety class an online or in person?
 
Reek said:
only that op3 qtc dqt dfr weekly emails . #RoadToAMajor starts with you ignoring all flight following and coding your delays.
Click to expand...

Ok we get it. You hate PSA. Get over it and get on with it!

Attitude is a big factor in success. Hate PSA all you want, but you'd be well advised to keep it to yourself. Lots of people reading these posts. You never know who they are. But it doesn't take much to figure out who YOU are!
 
Burrito said:
Christ I need a cuppa coffee...
Click to expand...

My favorite coffee-free moment was when I had ordered an MP3 by Amy Winehouse on Amazon, and when I got an email with the subject line "Amazon.com Order of Rehab" the next morning I was wondering why Amazon wanted me to go into rehab for a second.
 
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Flying Saluki said:
Ok we get it. You hate PSA. Get over it and get on with it!

Attitude is a big factor in success. Hate PSA all you want, but you'd be well advised to keep it to yourself. Lots of people reading these posts. You never know who they are. But it doesn't take much to figure out who YOU are!
Click to expand...
How has that positive attitude worked out for you? Mesa is hiring, maybe you can go for regional 14.
PSA is a joke and deserves every bit of critisicism. I don't need your advice on success bro.
 
Reek said:
How has that positive attitude worked out for you? Mesa is hiring, maybe you can go for regional 14.
Click to expand...

Must have worked out ok, because I've been hired by a major. How's that negative attitude working out for you?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
manniax said:
My favorite coffee-free moment was when I had ordered an MP3 by Amy Winehouse on Amazon, and when I got an email with the subject line "Amazon.com Order of Rehab" the next morning I was wondering why Amazon wanted me to go into rehab for a second.
Click to expand...

Did you say "no, no, no"?
 
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