How to become an aircraft dispatcher?
Working in the aviation field as a flight dispatcher is surely an important and rewarding career. If there is a pilot, dispatchers are often referred as the captain of the ground.
Aircraft dispatchers work for airlines and other scheduled carriers to coordinate all activities on the ground to ensure a safe, efficient operation for the flight with the pilot.
Some of the responsibilities are, establishing flight plans, managing weather delays and routing, ensuring the aircraft is properly equipped, monitoring the flight and alerting the captain of changes, determining the best course of action during an emergency situation and more.
Step 2: Obtain Training and Certification
Finding the right flight dispatcher training center is a helpful step to get your foot into the career, since most employers will look for qualifications or relevant work-based experience when hiring a flight dispatcher.
But with so many schools to choose from how do you make sure you can find the right school to get your training from? Students need to have the right instruction and guidance when learning the material.
Here are some of the checklist you should go through when deciding for a Flight Dispatch Training Center
Is it an accredited and approved Flight Dispatch school?
The schools that are accredited usually have this information on their website. This is an important factor since these schools go through strict quality control assessment in order to be accredited. For instance, ASISTIM dispatch academy is an CAA approved organization for training flight dispatchers in Germany (German CAA LBA NTO Certificate No. 070) as well as other parts in the world.
How long has the school been around?
ASISTIM Academy has been training students from all over the world for the last 15 years. Be wary of some schools that add up all the trainers experience and boast that they have many years of collective experience. You want to find a school that has been around for at least 10 years, so they have the experience and the strong foundation to provide quality aviation trainings.
Do they offer Onsite and Virtual classes?
Our ASISTIM dispatch training center in Hannover,Germany has the capacity to offer in-house trainings as well as the virtual training due to the fact that we are an established training center with a big team supporting our operation in the background. This enables us to train all sizes of organizations, big and small. The quality and experience gained from the real-life trainings naturally gets carried over to the online trainings as well.
When you send them an inquiry, do they have the staff to get back to your questions in a timely manner?
You want to go to a school that pays attention to your needs and can help you find the right class. Also, it is advisable to find a school that has the experience of offering customized classes upon request. For instance, ASISTIM flight dispatch training academy is experienced with assigning custom-tailored courses to fulfill the requirements of the IOSA audit for multiple international airline customers.
Training for an Aircraft Dispatcher Certificate will include:
- Meteorology
- Navigation
- Civil Air Law & Regulations
- Weather and Notices to Airmen (NOTAM) collection, interpretation, and usage
- Interpreting weather charts and forecasts
- Aircraft Mass (Weight) and Balance
- Aircraft Systems and MEL Air traffic control procedures
- Aircraft performance and weight and balance calculations
- Aerodynamics
- Human factors
- Dangerous Goods
- Aeronautical decision-making
- Dispatch Resource Management
After your certification you should be better positioned to find work in the field of aviation, whether that be in a private, commercial airline or freight carrier.
Do you want to know more about how to become a Flight Dispatcher? Talk to us today.
We can tell you more about how our Initial Dispatch Course can help you take the first step.