FAA Aircraft Dispatchers

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JASII

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I am considering a career as an FAA Aircraft Dispatcher. Does anybody here happen to know much about that career field? Also, would these be the folks we hear on the so called "company" frequencies of the airlines?

I am trying to determine what school I should attend to get certified and what the typical salary is in Minnesota for these types of jobs.
 

ur20v

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In a previous life I was a dispatcher. You'll be low man on the totem pole wherever you end up, and you'll get the worst shift at every bid for a very long time. Flight benefits are nice, but as a dispatcher you'll be in the CASS and can fly jumpseat if there's no space a (and there aren't any other higher seniority people jumpseating). Pay varies, but it's often better than an FO with a few years under his belt. In my experience there was zero radio communications; the company in-range stuff you hear are the airport based employees who coordinate aircraft movement, etc. We used to do the occasional ACARS messages, but that wasn't very often. Most communication between dispatch and the cockpit is done over the phone.

If I were you I'd start looking for dispatching job listings now to see if there's a demand in your area. There's usually openings in Arizona and Texas. As for schools, I suggest IFOD, as I have no experience with any others.
 

kc4wsd

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I am considering a career as an FAA Aircraft Dispatcher. Does anybody here happen to know much about that career field? Also, would these be the folks we hear on the so called "company" frequencies of the airlines?

I am trying to determine what school I should attend to get certified and what the typical salary is in Minnesota for these types of jobs.
I attended school with a guy who is a dispatcher up in that area. I'll try to contact him for how he did it, but the link that's already been posted looks like very good information.

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ur20v

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Not one in the same. What you hear over the radio on in-range frequencies are not dispatchers. Those are airline employees located at the airport, usually in the "tower" (but not to be confused with ATC or tower controllers). ACARS is the go-to for communications between dispatch and the ac while en route... if by some odd combination of incredibly rare factors there was a need for voice communications, it would be over ARINC.
 

alcahuete

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First, there's no such thing as an FAA Aircraft Dispatcher. They are not hired by the FAA, and are not federal employees. They have to complete FAA-authorized training, but they are hired by the airlines, not the FAA.

Accordingly, you aren't just going to be able to say that you want to work in Minnesota. The only airline with their dispatchers based out of Minnesota, as far as I recall, is Sun Country. Delta I believe is still completely based out of Atlanta, as far as their dispatchers are concerned. But going to work for any of the majors right out of school with no experience is very likely to not happen. So you have to be willing to go to their headquarters. Delta in Atlanta, American in Dallas, etc.
 

ur20v

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Endeavor Air and Compass Airlines are both in Minneapolis.
 

JASII

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First, there's no such thing as an FAA Aircraft Dispatcher. They are not hired by the FAA, and are not federal employees. They have to complete FAA-authorized training, but they are hired by the airlines, not the FAA.

Accordingly, you aren't just going to be able to say that you want to work in Minnesota. The only airline with their dispatchers based out of Minnesota, as far as I recall, is Sun Country. Delta I believe is still completely based out of Atlanta, as far as their dispatchers are concerned. But going to work for any of the majors right out of school with no experience is very likely to not happen. So you have to be willing to go to their headquarters. Delta in Atlanta, American in Dallas, etc.

Endeavor Air and Compass Airlines are both in Minneapolis.

Thank you to both of you for that. So, if I understand things correctly, since both Compass and Endeavor are not majors and are based out of Minnesota, they should both be potential employers for me, if I were to get the training.

I am off to look at their websites and email some schools to see if any of them are online and how much they cost!

Compass Airlines does have an opening right now. Maybe I should call or email them and see what they can suggest as far as training.

http://newton.newtonsoftware.com/ca...3&id=8a7885a860961cc90160b8296d393e04&source=

Endeavor states that they will be at a career fair in a couple of weeks near me. Perhaps I will attend that event and chat with them.

Corporate Careers | Endeavor Air
 
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alcahuete

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Either would be a great place to start. Compass prefers 1-3 years experience already, so they would likely be out of the question for an entry job, but you never know.

AC 65-34 gives you pretty much all the information you could possibly want as far as what you need, what education is required, etc. https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_65-34.pdf as well as Part 65 of the FARs. 14 CFR Part 65, Subpart C - Aircraft Dispatchers

The schooling is usually anywhere from $4000-$5000, plus the exam fees, which is another $600-ish total.

Good luck!
 
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DaveNF2G

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If you want to be an Air Traffic Controller, the quickest route in is through military experience, followed by the FAA's own training school. Then you go where they send you.
 

JASII

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If you want to be an Air Traffic Controller, the quickest route in is through military experience, followed by the FAA's own training school. Then you go where they send you.

No, I "aged out" of that years ago. I am interested in FAA Aircraft Dispatcher Certification.
 

alcahuete

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If you want to be an Air Traffic Controller, the quickest route in is through military experience, followed by the FAA's own training school. Then you go where they send you.

1) He isn't asking about ATC.

2) The military is nowhere near the quickest route. FAA has been hiring off the street for the past 12 years. That is WAY quicker than 4-6 years in the military before then having to go through the exact same application process as everybody else.
 

Fast1eddie

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Read many former Military controllers are highly pissed due to Obama drastically relaxing the hiring requirements so any schmoe from the 'hood can and will get hired. Marginally educated but it fits the "PC" checklist.

Extremely pathetic.
 

ur20v

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That's funny, I was in the aviation field for a long time, well before Obama was even in Congress, and the vast majority of controllers I knew back then (and now) weren't former military. Maybe 10% were.
Now, the majority of *private* controllers that I know, who work for defense contractors like Raytheon, Honeywell, L3, SNC, etc., are former military.
As for "marginally educated", that's b.s. The requirements and testing are as stringent and demanding as ever, and it's just as tough a field to get into as its always been. Perhaps some of those pissed off former military controllers you speak of who can't get hired by the FAA need to figure out why they washed out instead of tilting at windmills.
 

krokus

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Perhaps some of those pissed off former military controllers you speak of who can't get hired by the FAA need to figure out why they washed out instead of tilting at windmills.

My guess would be that it is those that spent 10-ish years in the military, so they were too old to get into the FAA. (Unless they did their 20 years, to qualify for the retired military controller program.)

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JASII

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In Compass Dispatch, Communication Is Priority Number One

Compass has an interesting blog on this.

https://compassairline.blog/category/dispatch/

The Compass Airlines blog

CATEGORY: DISPATCH
In Compass Dispatch, Communication is Priority Number One
Compass-dispatch.jpg
Dispatcher Edison Konold

At any given moment, there are hundreds of Compass employees working behind the scenes to ensure the safe operation of our airline. One of those individuals is dispatcher Edison Konold. A Minneapolis native and self-described “aviation nerd,” Edison was working for a commercial aircraft fueling company when he stumbled upon a Compass dispatcher opening online. One year later, he can’t imagine being anywhere else.

My first year at Compass has been extremely rewarding. I knew right away that this was going to be the professional family I was looking for. Bob Gleason, the Chief Operating Officer, personally welcomed me on day one, and I’ve felt at home ever since.”

As a dispatcher, Edison has a lot on his plate, including building flight plans. A flight plan is the route that an aircraft takes to get from its departure point to its final destination. To build a flight plan, dispatchers must take into account a number of factors, including weather conditions, airspace restrictions and airport conditions.

However, there’s more to getting a flight off the ground than building a flight plan. Before a flight can take off, Dispatch checks with Maintenance to ensure that the aircraft is safe to fly, and with Crew Scheduling to confirm that the crew assigned to the flight has had the required amount of rest and can legally operate the flight. Dispatchers are also in constant contact with Air Traffic Control for airport delays and weather updates.

“Dispatch is the heart of the airline,” explains Edison, “and communication is priority number one.”

When a dispatcher is confident that all of the pieces for a safe flight are in place—a safe flight path, a well-rested crew and a mechanically-sound aircraft—they initiate a flight release. The flight release is the legal document that allows a flight to take off, and it must be signed by both a dispatcher and the Captain of the flight. It signifies that both the dispatcher and the Captain agree that the flight can be completed legally and safely.

But things can change, even after a flight has taken off. Sometimes a flight has to deviate from its flight plan. A flight may not be able to land at its intended destination for variety of reasons, ranging from weather or airport congestion, to a sick passenger. When that happens, a dispatcher will help determine the safest course of action, which may involve rerouting the flight around weather or diverting to an alternate airport to accommodate a sick passenger. If a flight is rerouted, Dispatch determines if the aircraft has enough fuel to accommodate the extra time in the air. If not, it advises the pilots where to land for additional fuel.

All Dispatch personnel must obtain an FAA dispatch license, which includes 200 hours of training from an FAA-approved flight school. Coursework covers everything from aeronautical charts and the national airspace system, to FAA regulations and weather theory. “To work in Dispatch, you need a background in aeronautical knowledge, including charts and systems,” Edison explained. “Some of us have also meteorology degrees, which is especially helpful for weather-related aircraft routing during the winter months, as well as understanding runway conditions.”

Are you looking for a challenging and exciting career? We just might have an opening that’s the perfect fit for you. Click here to learn more.
 

JASII

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...Endeavor states that they will be at a career fair in a couple of weeks near me. Perhaps I will attend that event and chat with them.

Corporate Careers | Endeavor Air

I spoke with a Human Resources Recruiter this morning at the career fair. She was pretty helpful and gave me a bit on insight into that career field. She also said that Delta has six regional carriers and would be going down to three. Endeavor will be one of those three. As a result she said that they would likely be hiring additional dispatchers in the future.

We talked about training. While she couldn't recommend any specific school, she mentioned that Academy College is located not far from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, which would be convenient for me.

https://www.academycollege.edu/
 

JASII

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I made an appointment to meet with someone from Academy College last week at 5 PM. I was there on time, but after waiting 30 minutes and the receptionist apologizing, I left and told the receptionist that I would reschedule at a later date.

I will say that when the representative was on the telephone with me, he did give me some helpful information. I explained to him that since I am 57 years old, I am concerned about spending the time and money on training and not getting a job. His suggestion was to apply for a Crew Scheduler job at Endeavor Air. Then, complete the training for the FAA dispatch license. His reasoning was that once you are an employee, it would be easier to lateral over to the dispatch slot, when they have an opening.

Does anybody here happen to know an approximate salary range for either crew scheduler or flight dispatch? I assume that dispatch pays more than scheduler. And, I assume that Delta would pay more than Endeavor, but beyond that, I have no idea of a salary range.
 

ur20v

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Crew scheduling (aka "crew tracking" ) is a chew 'em up, spit 'em out gig. Not everyone is cut out for the job! There are three shifts, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. After training you bid for your schedule based on seniority. There are 13 bid periods of 28 days each. First and second shift 5x8 schedules are more likely to have non-consecutive days off (like Mondays and Wednesdays, etc.), while the third shift 5x8 schedules may have consecutive days off. If you're lucky and they have their crap together they'll have 4x10 schedules. Pay isn't great... some may say it's pretty bad. But they do give you flight benefits (though space-a is based on seniority, too, so you might not get anywhere or might get stuck somewhere) and they probably offer quarterly bonuses to sweeten it up a little. The job itself can be rough - you're often scrambling to rearrange schedules, which is tough enough as it is, but then you have to stay within regulations - bases, commuters, on duty/off duty,companyuts, reserve call outs, ready reserves, green on green flying... and SENIORITY. Some very senior pilots bid reserve lines so they can basically collect a paycheck without doing anything and will file grievances against you and the company for assigning flying and ruining their day. The scheduling software alerts you to *most* scheduling issues with regard to regulations, but not with seniority. You won't have too many pilot friends as a crew scheduler (unless they'r first or second year FOs without a line looking to rack up hours). Third shift is usually the worst because the schedules have been changed throughout the prior 16 hours (often while crewmembers are flying) and can't be notified of the changes right away, so third shift usually has a ton of notifications to make, and nobody likes getting called at 4:30am to be told they're doing something other than what they were expecting. And if you can't actually notify the crewmember in time, you will likely have to scramble to recreation that flight.

So, like I said before, it's a tough gig, but if you can roll with the punches you will learn TONS about the industry quickly and get yourself into consideration for a better position. If they have a need for dispatchers, they will often elect to promote the best and brightest from crew tracking to be sent to school on the company's dime (and you sign a 1-2 year contract, promising to pay them back if you quit, etc.).
 

JASII

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...Pay isn't great... some may say it's pretty bad...

Thank you very much for the additional information. I did email someone who has the definitive answer and here is what she sent me:

"Hi Jim,



Our pay ranges are subject to change but this is the current rate information for both.



Our Dispatchers are currently unionized and per the Contract, the hourly pay rate is $14.76. There is also a $6,400 annual retention payment through 2018. The contract is up at the end of this year, so I’m not sure what will happen.



For Crew Scheduling, the current pay rate is $17.73 per hour. If you work the grave shift, there is also a $.75 shift differential.



There are annual increases each year on a scale and lots of opportunity for advancement!"


To be perfectly, or brutally, blunt, there is no way that I would spend over $12,000 of my own money for training to qualify to get a job that pays $14.76 per hour. While I certainly understand that rates of pay vary around the country and that the rate will go up with time, it is still a very low starting wage, in my not so humble opinion.

I guess like anything else, it is the law of supply and demand and if they can get enough people, at the starting wage they pay, they aren't going to pay more.
 
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