Flight Dispatch Career Advice Wanted

[jasonr67]

I am currently looking at a career change, and am seriously looking at flight dispatch. However I am finding it very dificult to find any information online about the job and training particulaly in the UK. Can anyone provide me with some useful links and contacts that may help me on my way. Thanks in advance

[fcit]

Try http://www.galda.org (which is not quite U.K., but the German representation of EUFALDA) and UKOMA http://www.ukoma.org.

Be warned though, due to the current restructuring of the aviation industry and more sophisticated flight planning and OPS Control Systems, there is currently quite a surplus of dispatchers (also well qualified one's) around. Will not be easy to find a job (let alone a well paid one).

Good luck
fcit

[captaincrunchie]

Flight Dispatch can be both a fun and an awarding career...
If you plan to pursue this, then I recommend you get hold of a FAA Licence. It can be done in the states at various schools. There are a few European Licences, issued by the relvant Civil Aviation Authorities. The FAA course takes around 6 weeks if I remember.....use the search function on the top......this subject has been debated a few times I think. At the moment, the industry is a bit swomped with surplus dispatchers....however, in a few years I think that will change. How this helps

Brgds

Cptcrunchie

[HZ123]

I agree with some of the comments the Dispatchers role is fast disappearing. At BA they will soon be titled as Turnaround Co-ordinators (TC), this covers two issues.

So much more of their work is performed by the centralised load control planning system. This in effect means that flight load sheets or a LIRF (Load Infomation Report Form) can be generated automatically from a computer at anytime and in effect at any station you operate too. For example the same a/c types with near enough same load/ pax figure etc can be duplicated year in year out.

Within the UK the CAA has directed that the TC will now be responsible for all the activities conducted around the a/c and will manage them accordingly. This is very much seen as a health and safety role as previous events have shown that no-one around the a/c ramp operations knows who is in charge which is a H & S failure.

Sorry to go on but this may mean that the role may actully increase. If you wanted to go into it with BA you would probnably have to work first as a Customer Service Agent or a ramp agent as Dispatch is promoted from within and this is the case with many airlines and ground handling companies.
Good Luck

[Opsisgr8t]

Be careful on the terms you use here - Aircraft Dispatchers are the guys now being referred to as Turnround Co-ordinators, Load Controllers etc etc (used to be Red Caps!) With regards to Flight Dispatch - this is an Ops function, the term being an American one, but over here, it tends to be Operations Controller etc.

There is a MASSIVE difference between the two.

Rgds