What It Means to be a Good Aircraft Dispatcher
Becoming an aircraft dispatcher is tough work. From completing the required courses and dispatcher programs, taking the test to get your license and undergoing training from your airline employer, it can be a good deal of time before you are able to work on and manage your own flights. Thanks to aircraft dispatcher schools like Sheffield School of Aeronautics, you can receive a great education and training for an affordable price. Most importantly, you will learn the dos and don’ts of being a flight dispatcher.
A good aircraft dispatcher is someone who embodies four important qualities: effective communication, decisiveness, thoughtful consideration, and a meticulous personality. An aircraft dispatcher’s quality in these four aspects will mean the difference between a good, bad, and excellent dispatcher. The better the dispatcher, the better the flight dispatcher salary. An aircraft dispatcher course will give you the insight and training needed to begin a career in the aeronautics industry, but these skills are learned through personal training and inherent skills.
When schools like Sheffield School of Aeronautics discuss aircraft dispatcher requirements, the focus is often on the industry knowledge you must possess to perform the daily tasks. These skills are imparted during the lessons you receive in aircraft dispatcher courses. Once you have completed the aircraft dispatcher training and all certification tests, these skills will be used every day in your job as an aircraft dispatcher:
Effective Communication Skills
You are communicating with pilots and flight controllers throughout your day, and it is important to communicate effectively, as well as actively listen. The international language for aircraft dispatch is English, which means a solid command of the English language is required. Working well with people is another part of effective communication. You need to be comfortable communicating with different levels of people throughout your day to ensure an efficient process.
Decisive Personality
Your ability to make informed decisions quickly will come in handy as an aircraft dispatcher. This skill works in tandem with your knowledge and training to allow you to make the correct decisions at the right times. There will often be times when you need to make decisions to divert the plane or veer off the plan for any reason, and it is then that having the skill to make decisions when they matter will be very important. And those communication skills we talked about earlier will come in handy explaining the change to others.
Thoughtful Consideration
There are a lot of things to consider when planning a flight. The process takes a keen understanding and thoughtful consideration to ensure that all your training, as well as experience and intuition, work together to make the correct decision. As we mentioned with communication skills, listening and analyzing all possibilities is important.
Meticulous Personality
There are a lot of calculations that should be considered when developing a flight plan. Weather, weight, fuel, speed; although math is not an aircraft dispatcher course requirement, there will be a fair amount of calculations to make every day. To be a good aircraft dispatcher, you cannot leave anything to chance or worse, leave anything out of your flight plans. You must have the discipline to complete everything in a timely fashion, while also ensuring that you leave no stone unturned.
Think you have what it takes? For more information or to sign up for Sheffield’s aircraft dispatcher courses, visit our website, and discover this great career.