Questions about Dispatch as a career / transitioning to pilot

M

Maxm11

Well-Known Member
Hi Everyone,

Prior to making this post I tried my hardest to make sure I’m not asking any stupid, already answered questions but I apologize in advance for any inconveniences.

I’m currently working a dead end job that pays average. I have one semester left of college and after that, I’ll probably still be working this dead end job that hasn’t had anything to do with my actual degree.

For the longest time I’ve wanted to work in aviation but the cost of becoming a pilot is not necessarily one that I would be able to pay up front.

Instead, I was wondering weather or not it would be beneficial to instead pursue a flight dispatch certificate and while gaining experience in the industry, attempt to go for pilot certificates.

Has anyone here transitioned from dispatch to flying? Is this at all a good idea/plan? Is it hard to come by a dispatch job when you are fresh out of school? Do dispatchers commute/is it feasible?

Any tips/feedback/insight is very appreciated.

-M


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This is something I am currently thinking about too...

I am currently working on a private pilot license (PPL) (which will cost somewhere between $7000-10,000) ... I'm doing it locally at the shop of my regional airport.

After obtaining my PPL, I will know whether or not flying is something I want to commit to ...

ATP Flight School offers flying programs anywhere from $50,000-$75,000 dollars depending on whether or not your start with your PPL, or with no flight time at all.

As far as paying for everything while working an average dispatch job (at a regional airline), I do not recommend it. The pay is typically abysmal and will not support all of your ratings.

If you decide that you are serious about becoming a pilot, the industry is ripe. There is plenty of opportunity and paying off your debt should not be difficult over time.

It's not terribly difficult to get hired at a regional airline fresh out of school, as long as you know your stuff.

No one in my shop commutes to work, it wouldn't be exactly feasible, but I've heard that some people from here do it.
 
Maxm11 said:
Has anyone here transitioned from dispatch to flying? Is this at all a good idea/plan? Is it hard to come by a dispatch job when you are fresh out of school? Do dispatchers commute/is it feasible?
Click to expand...
The one thing I would say is that dispatchers must learn a lot of the same information pilots do - the ATP and ADX written tests are similar and contain many of the same questions regarding WX, flight controls, aircraft systems, FARs, etc so that would ease the transition compared to going from knowing little/nothing to being a qualified pilot.

However: Being a dispatcher is a time investment and a long career path in itself. Aside from the initial cost of obtaining your certificate (a few thousand dollars at minimum, depending which program you choose) it is unlikely that you can go straight into employment in a dispatch position after getting the certificate. The majors typically will not consider you as an applicant if you do not have prior experience of some kind, which could include being an internal hire from something like crew scheduling or AOG control, or having prior dispatch experience at a regional. Barring any prior aviation experience, the most likely path is that you would start at a regional carrier and work your way into a dispatch position there, then from there your experience at the regional will act as leverage for getting into the majors.

The regionals typically do not pay all that well for any position, at least not compared to the majors: You will start at $15-20/hr as a regional dispatcher, while the starting pay at the majors is about double that. And that's after you start in a lower-level position like scheduling or AOG, where the starting pay will be more like $12-14/hr. None of that is horrible, but what it does mean is that you are essentially in a "holding tank" for the early stages of your career. The certificate means you are a shoe-in for non-dispatch jobs in flight ops, but without prior work flight ops experience of some kind you are unlikely to be hired as a dispatcher straight-up.

In summary, I would not say it's impossible to go from being a dispatcher to being a pilot, but my point is that both career paths involve long-term planning and both will play out over a longer time scale. It's not as simple as just getting the certs and away you go. Once you have invested that time into becoming a dispatcher, you probably won't want to go through all the rigmarole of essentially doing the same thing all over again to be a pilot.

I would say you should choose one or the other based on what you think you want out of life in the long term. Do you want to be able to put down roots somewhere and be with family and friends a lot? Go with dispatch. Do you think the high-intensity lifestyle of going somewhere different every time you go to work is better for you? Go with being a pilot.
 
Thank you Spatchman - the reason I’ve thought about it is because I genuinely don’t know how long I’d be able to last at this trash job. So ideally I’d like to work and fly, but if I have to leave, I’d like to have a cushion that allows me to go to dispatch school and hopefully get a job in dispatch. I live on the east coast so I’d have to move for training and a job


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thank you KiloEchoVictor, yes lifestyle would be important but I understand that there are sacrifices to be made - I didn’t mean to give off the impression that it’s simply getting the certs and you get handed a job so I apologize about that, I just wanted to understand whether or not a fresh dispatcher can gain employment at a regional and work up from there - I also know that pay tends to top out after decades at the majors at around 200k and if I’m not mistaken, pilots are able to earn more?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Maxm11 said:
Thank you KiloEchoVictor, yes lifestyle would be important but I understand that there are sacrifices to be made - I didn’t mean to give off the impression that it’s simply getting the certs and you get handed a job so I apologize about that, I just wanted to understand whether or not a fresh dispatcher can gain employment at a regional and work up from there - I also know that pay tends to top out after decades at the majors at around 200k and if I’m not mistaken, pilots are able to earn more?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Pilots generally earn more than dispatchers at any given company yes. Some of the regionals start their first officers at $40/hr. Of course, pilots also don't have a set work week and your hours can vary from month to month. There are also hard regulatory limits on how much you can work in a certain period of time (60 block hours in 168-hour period, 100 block hours in 672-hour period, 1000 block hours in 365 day period)

Now, if your ultimate goal is to be a pilot, working at a regional sounds like it would definitely be an upgrade from whatever you're doing now. Even if the pay isn't mind-blowing, you generally get good benefits and you will at least have some kind of pathway for career advancement. As @Spatchman said, you will likely not be able to cover the cost of ATP certs on regional pay, but if you put the effort in and actually become a pilot, you would be able to pay off any debts relatively quickly.

I am biased because my long-term goal is to stay in flights ops and put down roots as a dispatcher - I have no interest in being a pilot, so it's not my place to decide that for you. Any aviation experience will only help you if that is your ultimate goal.
 
I definitely understand that and yes, I think perhaps I would be more suited for actually flying but I wouldn’t be able to know for sure and I believe it would take me several years to actually achieve that goal. I know financing is tough as any loans would need to be personal rather than education and oftentimes backed by collateral. That’s why I figured that getting a dispatch certificate would be a good idea. Might have to go back to the drawing board.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The regional I work for offers a leave of absence for professional development so you can keep your spot in the company and they offer scholarships and stuff. They only offer this for employees who are trying to become pilots, dispatchers, or mechanics. In theory you could work a year or so and get your PPL in your free time then take the LOA to finish everything up and go into flight ops as an FO when you return from your LOA.
 
Lots of good info here. One thing I think may not be 100% accurate would be the whole not being able to get into dispatch at a regional out of dispatch school thing. Most of the peeps at my last regional got hired on right after obtaining their cert. but yes making real money at a major would take some time dispatching at a regional or going the internal route and hoping to outcompete everyone else going the internal route. If you want to fly and can hold a medical I would say go all in on that. If you go the dispatch route, like kev said it could be a long route in and of itself. Life will happen, expenses will come up, it may be hard to set aside 10’s of thousands for flight lessons while living on a regional dispatch salary.

Get a 1st class medical before you spend all that money though if you want to fly. It would be a bummer to find out after you’re halfway down that road that you now basically have a mortgage with no house. I know quite a few people that have over 100k in debt from going down the pilot route who never made it for one reason or another.
 
Looks like a lot of great information here.
I’ll humbly add that I know a lot of dispatchers who enjoy flying recreationally.
I also know a crew scheduler and also a dispatcher who have gone on to become commercial pilots.
Some companies now have pathway programs where you can work your way up to becoming a First Officer at a major.
I recently read that Southwest has one such program. Consider looking into that.

Dispatchers do commute. So that’s an option.

And lastly, regional airlines hire often. Skywest has an exceptional training program.

Good luck to you in your journey!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top