UK dispatcher license

[Rick1982]

kkay

kkay - I'd suggest looking for current job vacancies first before deciding what to do. See what they require of you. I would imagine that most will say; "5 years experience in operational airline". If this is the case then forget the Licence or qualifications for now. Go and get any airline job you can get. Sit it out until you have at least 2 years experience to put on your cv, then maybe consider getting a qualification (Msc or FAA Licence). Look at it as a long term plan. The Ops Dept in India my not require qualifications or experience. All the training my be given. Some airlines may pay for you to get the licence if required.

Just my opinion....

[desertopsguy]

As mentioned, getting yourself an FAA licence will not grant you the right to live and work in the USA.

I don't really agree with some of the other advice on here though...
The US FAA licence is not just for those who want to live and work there. I have had mine validated in other countries and was granted their licences on the strength of my FAA.

In many countries the FAA licence is 'the' standard in the abscense of their own standards.

Spending 2 years doing any old job in an airline is a waste of time and you should go get the licence first before you start looking for work.

Most airlines will not expect 5yrs experience to get into their flight dispatch office with the exception of the larger ones who do tend to look for more experience than the others.

As an Indian, you may need to contact your DGCA there and discuss whether it is possible to validate the FAA licence. Once that is sorted out you can look for work there.

If working overseas is what you want to do then you will first have to narrow down where you can work.

The Gulf region and Africa to a lesser extent would be the main source of opportunities for you. There are lots of jobs in the Gulf, particularly in DXB / AUH / RUH etc

Go online, find out what companies are in the region you wish to work, check their company websites for jobs and see what their experience requirements are, you might even find entry level position.

The toughest thing for a newbie dispatcher is getting that first job so if you do get a licence and are looking for a foot in the door then perhaps taking any airline job makes sense but I would definately take the licence first, not the other way around.

Best of luck.

D.O.G

[Rick1982]

desertopsguy

desertopsguy...

This post is not ment to be arguementative, its just somethimes things are written differently as to how they are ment to be said (i.e. different tone,etc...)

Please can you point me in the direction of any ops/dispatcher job, with any size company, in any location (safe location and somewhere as a British Citizen that I will be legal to work) at any pay scale, that doesnt require you to have at least 1 year experience with an airline.

I have done exactly what you have advised kkay to do. In the last six months I have shelled out nearly £20k on achieving my FAA dispatchers licence, additional workshops on ETOPS, International Flight Planning and Advanced Weather Information. I am also about to complete my City and Guilds Qualification in Airline Operations and Dispatch. I have also completed my PPL. All in a six month period.

I agree with what you say that finding the first dispatchers position as a newbie is difficult. However I was one of the top 3 in my class and have no issues understanding what I have learnt. In the class there were 4 non US citizens. I was the only one not working for an airline. The other 3 were all working for airlines and all failed to pass the course. All US citizens that passed the course have subsequently been hire by small and large airlines. I have yet to get an interview anywhere.

Ultimately I believe that its getting the foot in the door thats the important bit. He /She may find an airline that given sometime may sponsor them to complete the FAA licence and save him a lot of money.

Like I said previously this post although it may sound it is not meant to be arguementative and is certainly not meant to be agressive.

Your advise please. Thanks

[desertopsguy]

Rick1982,

I'm not sure what aggression or argumentative tone you inferred from my post but I can assure that it was written with neither in mind, it was merely my opinion based on my experiences.

You've obviously gone to great personal expense to get through these courses and they complement each other in various ways.

The best advice I could give you is to be flexible but don't do anything too silly. Taking a job in a different airline dept, say check-in, may not be the best option as you could end up stuck there for a very long time.
Obviouslyy if you were under pressure to generate an income then that would take precedence.

You should keep a constant watch on the job sites and airline home pages to make sure you find out about new openings as soon as they crop up.

If you need more info then pm me.

Best,

D.O.G

[Rick1982]

Desertopsguy

Thanks for the offer. I will pm you later.

I didn't infer any agressive or arguementative tone from your post. I was making sure that there was no offensive tone taken from my posts.

Thanks again

[G-CFMX]

Dispatcher

Hey guys,

The best way to get into dispatching is to go through a ground handling company for a low cost airline. i've currently been working for a ground handling company as a ramp agent for a while now and a few months ago i completed my Dispatching course. the course was paid for by the handling company and now im dispatching up to ten flights a day in each shift!

Then once you have had enough experience in dealing with the quick turnarounds and stress from; Pilots, ATC, Managment and The airport operator on each flight im sure you would have enough expereince to deal with the longer haul flights for a larger company, and this would definatly give yourself a huge advantage on apply for certain courses, and make you stand out from the rest!.

Good luck

[Rick1982]

G-CFMX

G-CFMX,

What Dispatcher course did you do? When was it and who was it run by?

[Xpert]

sounds like ground handling dispatch (AAA / Hold baggage manifest / Turn-around co-ord etc etc) as appose to airline ops. A good source of experience, but there is loads more training to go and it costs a lot!!.

[wangus]

I'm reluctant to add my experience, but I will anyway as it may offer some insight. I "dispatched" for 7 years in the UK with one of the biggest handling agents in the world. We were held in very, VERY low regard by aircrew and airlines, and in even lower regard by the company paying our wages. As the previous gents/ladies CORRECTLY pointed out, there is no licence in the UK. The role (in my case) has become that of a load controller. No involvement in flight planning, flight briefing, performance, etc. They DON'T want you to be clever. Rather a "YES" man/woman who performs like a robot. Load control is now centralized, meaning all we did was tear the loadsheet off a printer and deliver it to the flight crew. I would give the role (IN THE UK) a miss. The three FAA licenced dispatchers in my company were held in the same low regard as the rest of us. Same relatively low wages, atrocious T & Cs, lungs coated with diesel fumes from prehistoric tugs and JetA1. (I have a frozen ATPL - yippee say the employed flight crew.)

[Xpert]

all very true .... but you cannot beat the smell of JetFuel at 0400 on a winter morning!.

[Rick1982]

I think we're drifting into that 'job description' area again. Those with an FAA Dispatchers Licence probably have very little desire to do what we know in the UK as Dispatching.

UK Dispatching = US Ramp Agent
US Dispatching = UK Operations Controller

I think this has been well documented somewhere here before!

[Rick1982]

xfearlessx

Stick to looking in the US. IMHO India and Asia will usually hire from respective citizens. Middle East is where everyone is looking to get into.

People trying in Europe but supply way above demand. I got an interview last week but failed to get the job here in the Uk. I was informed afterwards that they had over 125 applications for one job!

Stick to looking in the US.
Good luck

[Booglebox]

I work for a small aviation-related company and we have Ops guys who have come into the company "ab-initio" with no prior experience of aviation whatsoever. And they are excellent at the job.

Rick1982, your bit about the stuff you've done (PPL, other training) in 6 months is quite impressive. If you are still unemployed feel free to PM me.

[Senthil_Kumar]

Where to do the Dispatcher course?

Hi Guys i'am new to this forum...
I'am currently working for a ground handling company in pax ops department as a checkin agent or boarding gate agent , in india, for over a year now...
Am intrested to a dispatcher course , but wondering wheather Sheffield school is good or Jeppsen, Emirates college (UAE) ...
Basically A GCAA or FAA license..
Can anyone guide me here ....

Thanks

[desertopsguy]

FAA vs GCAA

No comparison between Sheffield and Jeppesen. Sheffield sets the standard, Jeppesen does not.

The FAA licence is widely accepted around the world, the UAE much less so.

Not much in the difference in course cost although cost of living while you're doing the course would factor heavily as you would be there for 6-7 weeks plus travelling home a day or 2 either side.

Visa for US might be more difficult than UAE for obvious reasons.

I heard, not sure if it is true, that Jepp in DXB is asking for new students to be working at an airline already before they will issue the licence, you need to check that out.

D.O.G

[Sir George Cayley]

EASA have no plans. Yet.

That's what they said before Cabin Crew attestations appeared over the horizon.

They appear to want a certificate or licence for absolutely everything. Talking about airport ops being called 'Runway Inspectors'

So look out for an NPA coming to a website near you soon.

Sir George Cayley

[desertopsguy]

Everyone licenced and unionised what a wonderful world that would be

D.O.G