CFPlnrHi there,
Been flight dispatching for over 20yrs now, maybe I can offer a few tips for those trying to make the grade in a major carrier.......
- Certification is not worth much without on the job experience. Sure you need it in some airlines, but there's much more involved than just holding a ticket...understanding fuel and airline policies is what takes the time. The majors are relunctant to take on new guys without a reasonable amount of operational experience in an outfit where he/she has proved they can apply those policies.
- Flight Dispatch systems (particularly in the larger carriers) are becoming much more automated, in a lot of cases fully automated, requiring less dispatchers. These days a dispatcher also needs to be systems savy, you'll still need to know how to read a TAF and NOTAM and
MAYBE apply it, if the system hiccups and is unable to.
- Best bet is to get the runs on the board with a smaller carrier, then go for the bigger ones.
It's quite fascinating to see a large airline's modern dispatch office and how little staff it takes to run a 24hr operation.
Good luck, its a great profession to be in.
CFPInr… since you’ve been in dispatching for quite a long time, how did you get hired if you don’t get a certification before? I mean how do you qualify without a certification? Anyways, if I’m getting it right, working in the UK is a pickle as usual, and as you are saying, there is no hope for a brand new flight dispatcher… UK was my first choice though, nway I’ll keep in mind your advice for the small carriers, but at this time, I think I’ve got more chances in the States, even if I don’t really know it works there concretely!
Ps I don’t think its fascinating, I don’t kinda like the idea of being replaced by machines! 