At Sheffield School of Aeronautics, we are proud of our graduates and that’s because we know how hard they work to master the skill of aircraft dispatch. We asked a student who graduated from our aircraft dispatcher school to describe a day in the life of an aircraft dispatcher for the benefit of our prospective students. This is an aircraft dispatcher job description from a working dispatcher.
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When dispatchers walk into work, they can expect their day to go one of two ways: routine or stressful. On a routine day, aircraft dispatchers will file the preferred routing, normal routes, and easily flight follow with no distractions. These days are the most common.
On a stressful day, all the lessons learned in aircraft dispatcher school come into play. Aircraft dispatchers will build new routes, deal with broken airplanes (with items inoperative and/or missing), unforeseen emergencies and diversions; as well as adverse weather, ground delay programs and/or ground stops.
Here are some details that you won’t find in an aircraft dispatcher job description:
A ground delay program must be made after Air Traffic Control (ATC) issues a delay for all flights meeting a certain criteria destined for a specific airspace or when certain airspace must be avoided.
If a ground stop is ordered, all inbound traffic to an airport has been halted on the ground at the departing station.
Both these situations present challenges but when an aircraft dispatcher has both situations to deal with at once, they can expect a busy and some might say stressful shift. It’s imperative to use the lessons learned at aircraft dispatcher school to prevail in these situations.
“
Rather than the usual aircraft dispatcher job descriptions, Sheffield prefers to give our students all the training and understanding of the job to come. More from our graduate:
“
There are frequent Ground Delay Programs and Ground Stops in the Northeast due to weather which can cause major and significant reroutes that result in traffic delays in the air.
ATC can issue a Flow Constraint Area (FCA), meaning every flight that departs, and is destined for an airport in the New York airspace might be delayed significantly; especially if the aircraft was filed to fly at altitudes between 12,000 – 16,000 feet. Sometimes, the only way to avoid a two-hour delay is to file the flight around the New York airspace or underneath the FCA. This is where decision making skills learned at aircraft dispatcher school come into play.
In these situations, it is best to create a plan with your pilot to eliminate the delay. The aircraft dispatcher and pilot may choose to adjust altitude or avoid the airspace as an example. Once the new plan is filed, the aircraft dispatcher will contact ATC to inform them of the new flight plan. It’s is up to the dispatcher to think ahead and to plan enough fuel for these changes. By making necessary changes, flights planned proactively can avoid hours of delays. All thanks to your friendly aircraft dispatcher.
“
Follow the links for more information on aircraft dispatcher school or information about our courses.
Guest Blog from Sheffield Graduate
A Day as an Aircraft Dispatcher
At Sheffield School of Aeronautics, we are proud of our graduates and that’s because we know how hard they work to master the skill of aircraft dispatch. We asked a student who graduated from our aircraft dispatcher school to describe a day in the life of an aircraft dispatcher for the benefit of our prospective students. This is an aircraft dispatcher job description from a working dispatcher.
“
When dispatchers walk into work, they can expect their day to go one of two ways: routine or stressful. On a routine day, aircraft dispatchers will file the preferred routing, normal routes, and easily flight follow with no distractions. These days are the most common.
On a stressful day, all the lessons learned in aircraft dispatcher school come into play. Aircraft dispatchers will build new routes, deal with broken airplanes (with items inoperative and/or missing), unforeseen emergencies and diversions; as well as adverse weather, ground delay programs and/or ground stops.
Here are some details that you won’t find in an aircraft dispatcher job description:
A ground delay program must be made after Air Traffic Control (ATC) issues a delay for all flights meeting a certain criteria destined for a specific airspace or when certain airspace must be avoided.
If a ground stop is ordered, all inbound traffic to an airport has been halted on the ground at the departing station.
Both these situations present challenges but when an aircraft dispatcher has both situations to deal with at once, they can expect a busy and some might say stressful shift. It’s imperative to use the lessons learned at aircraft dispatcher school to prevail in these situations.
“
Rather than the usual aircraft dispatcher job descriptions, Sheffield prefers to give our students all the training and understanding of the job to come. More from our graduate:
“
There are frequent Ground Delay Programs and Ground Stops in the Northeast due to weather which can cause major and significant reroutes that result in traffic delays in the air.
ATC can issue a Flow Constraint Area (FCA), meaning every flight that departs, and is destined for an airport in the New York airspace might be delayed significantly; especially if the aircraft was filed to fly at altitudes between 12,000 – 16,000 feet. Sometimes, the only way to avoid a two-hour delay is to file the flight around the New York airspace or underneath the FCA. This is where decision making skills learned at aircraft dispatcher school come into play.
In these situations, it is best to create a plan with your pilot to eliminate the delay. The aircraft dispatcher and pilot may choose to adjust altitude or avoid the airspace as an example. Once the new plan is filed, the aircraft dispatcher will contact ATC to inform them of the new flight plan. It’s is up to the dispatcher to think ahead and to plan enough fuel for these changes. By making necessary changes, flights planned proactively can avoid hours of delays. All thanks to your friendly aircraft dispatcher.
“
Follow the links for more information on aircraft dispatcher school or information about our courses.
Guest Blog from Sheffield Graduate