If you ask people regarding air travel, you’d notice that almost all of them assume that while flying they’re in the hands of the pilot. do you think the same way? Well, the reality lies in the indisputable fact that any flight crew cannot fly without a team of individuals on the ground.
This team works in the flight operation center and keeps an eye on every step of your flight. Once you hear a pilot’s announcement regarding the route change to avoid bad weather. Probably this decision wasn’t made by the pilot in command inside the aircraft cockpit but by a flight dispatcher in the airline flight operation center.
Dispatchers aren’t solely planning the flight, they monitor the entire flight and are able to provide any necessary data for the pilots anytime. This creates an impression that they’re on the flight deck with the pilots.
However, they’re in the airline’s flight operation center thousands of miles away from the aircraft. they’re like the eyes, the ears, and also the brain of the pilot. Flight Dispatchers are in control of your flight more than the pilot. As you may guess, a flight dispatcher’s day appears quite busy.
a flight dispatcher Job description
Daily routine
Usually, flight dispatchers work in an airline operation control center where they track various amounts of real-time data on their monitors for a successful uninterrupted airline operation. Their job is to create flight plans and make sure that the aircraft get where they need to be at the correct time.
This high responsibility job requires complete concentration throughout the long shift which may vary between six and twelve hours per day. Imagine, that a pilot is responsible for a single flight at a time. A flight dispatcher could also be planning and observing multiple flights.
Every shift begins with an accurate check of the day’s weather. Visibility within the departure airfield, weather conditions in the arrival landing field, wind, clouds, various routes to avoid turbulence, and even additional aspects related to weather conditions are checked constantly.
Imagine, even the smallest weather changes can affect the flight plans prepared ahead. only after these morning procedures, the flight planning work begins.
Flight planning
Do you know that a flight dispatcher has worked more on mapping out your flight than the pilot you see when boarding? These aviation professionals in the flight operation center are heavily involved in flight planning. Also, their duty is to organize an in-depth pilot’s playbook that the pilot follows throughout the entire flight.
Flight dispatchers monitor all the necessary data and create a set of circumstances that guide how, where, and when your plane operates to get you safely to your destination.
Dispatchers examine and plan around variables like the type of plane, loading or weight, airport conditions, airspace restrictions, regulatory considerations, and any number of (un)known weather conditions. Flight dispatchers put together a plan that they review with the pilots just a few hours before the passengers begin boarding.
When a flight plan is ready, provided to pilots and an aircraft takes off, a flight dispatcher’s work continues with monitoring the flight.
The flight dispatcher follows your flight in real-time on the screens using radar technology, showing several steps ahead of the plane at any given moment, observing forthcoming weather patterns and keeping an eye on any other changing conditions, adjusting the flight plan as required.
Skills
All professions need a special “package” of skills and qualities, which of a flight dispatcher isn’t an associate degree exception. Working in a busy environment under pressure with the highest requirements for safety is not for everyone.
A flight dispatcher’s job is for those who are sensible team players, will manage an outsized quantity of adjusting info, and quickly build choices that can save lives of passengers and crew thousands of euros for airlines.
Flight dispatchers have identical specific aviation knowledge as pilots do. It’s quite common practice to take a few months of flight dispatcher training and work as a flight dispatcher in order to save cash for pilot studies.
So if you’re dreaming about the job of a pilot but the study prices look far from your possibilities. Considering a flight dispatcher’s job to save cash for your studies may be your option.
Next time you’re on a flight, keep in mind that there’s more than one person guiding your aircraft to its destination and guaranteeing that you simply get there safely and on time.