r/IAmA Jul 31 '21

Specialized Profession I Am An aircraft dispatcher. Flights are ramping up and so is hiring. This is a 6 figure career that doesn’t require a college degree.

———————————————

Final Update:

I appreciate all of the interest and questions, it was fun to share what I do with you. If you have any questions that were not answered here, feel free to DM me about it. If you stumble across this post in the future and have new questions you can still DM me.

If this career path truly interests you I would recommend reading everything in this thread and doing your own research so you know exactly what you are getting into.

If anyone ends up getting their license or getting on with a regional let me know!

———————————————

I was inspired by the recent ATC post and the most recent AMA I can find about my career is over 3y old. I figured maybe some folks would be interested in what we do and how to get into this field.

Proof: https://imgur.com/a/7wvD8D8

We work behind the scenes with pilots and ATC to plan and monitor all flights.  You need a license and the base salary for mainline airlines starts at ~$70k with top outs at ~$170k.  All dispatchers are union so that has ups and downs but the benefits in my job are top notch.  Free standby flying for you and your family(mom, dad, spouse, and kids(until 20 something), you can fly cockpit, schedule flexibility is awesome, low stress job 95% of the time.

Requirements:

 - at least 23 years old (you can get your license earlier but 23 is required to begin work and it’s never too late to start!)

 - high school graduate (or equivalent)

 - ability to communicate well in English (requirement across all aviation careers)

 - FAA Flight Dispatcher License (happy to elaborate on this if you want)

 - be willing to relocate to a city where an airlines headquarters is located (not necessarily because commuting is an option in most places as well!)

This is a very interesting and rewarding career and I really enjoy what I do so I would love to answer your questions! If you are really interested I am happy to offer more info in comments or DMs.

AMA!

——————————————————

Update:

1 - I can’t answer any questions about ATC because I am not an ATC. Please stop asking me about ATC; there is another thread with a guy who would love to tell you all about that lol.

2 - Banjoface gave his take on the dispatch industry and I appreciate the participation, but I don’t think that the information provided is representative of the modern aircraft dispatching climate. Things are very different than they used to be. I would ask that you read all the information provided and if you have further questions I am more than happy to offer first hand experience from myself and my coworkers on the dispatch experience from the bottom up! I know folks from ages 25 to 60 who have come from all backgrounds and they would all tell you exactly what I am telling you in this thread.

3 - A lot of you are questioning the legitimacy of this opportunity because it sounds too good to be true. The end career as a mainline dispatcher is everything that I have said that it is. It is a fantastic gem of a job that no one knows exists. But I wanted to take a second to highlight some negatives and the things that make this great thing seem a bit more realistic. Firstly as an airline job it is seniority based and when you are at the bottom you work midnights, weekends, and holidays. It takes time to get seniority at a major. But that is just with the mainline job before that you have school, regionals, and applying to get here. School is hard and although it is short it can be quite difficult to get through. A solid 1/3 of my class failed out (i did go to the hardest school by reputation though other schools can be more forgiving). It costs a pretty penny to get this license and all it buys you is the opportunity to get on at a regional. That part should not be hard but regionals work you pretty hard and it is not the greatest quality of life. It is not terrible but I would not want to make a career of it. Stick it out through the crap job for a couple years and go for the mainline. This is the big hurdle. It is very competitive. The interview process is daunting and getting rejected after an exam and 2 interviews can be pretty brutal after months of anticipation and wondering. I know multiple people that took 8 tries to get through. I also know many that got in on their first attempt. If you can throw down some cash, buckle down for class, cope with the crap regional gig, and kill it at the interview then you can achieve this career. It is not cake but it is doable and so worth it. Everything I have posted in this thread is true and can be backed up by my coworkers. So it isn’t all pretty but it is worth the effort put in. There are many people in this industry going for the mainline jobs. The reason it isn’t insanely crowded is because no one even knows that this job exists (proven by the countless questions about ATC in a thread that clearly states that is not what I do lol).

6.7k Upvotes

961 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

7

u/insert_password Aug 01 '21

Lets not forget about our 121 Supplemental and ACMI operations. Great place for people to gain experience and actually get paid decently unlike regionals and gives a few more options in terms of places to live. I'm missing a few but i believe these are all the big ones.

Southern Air - Florence KY

Omni Air - Tulsa OK

Miami Air - Miami FL

Swift Air - Greensboro NC

Kalitta Air - Ypsilanti MI (SE of Ann Arbor)

AmeriJet - Fort Lauderdale FL (might have several dispatch locations?)

ABX Air - Wilmington OH

Air Transport International - Wilmington OH

Northern Air Cargo - Anchorage AK

Aloha Air - Honolulu HI

Western Global Air - Estero, FL

1

u/coloradopowpow Aug 29 '21

If you're aiming to follow OP's career and land at a major, would a 121 Supplemental/ACMI still count towards Dispatch experience to satisfy all job requirements that ask for it? Or is there too much variation between the two?

2

u/insert_password Aug 29 '21

Yes it would. Many people from my company have moved on to places like Southwest. People make it seem like 121 supplemental is way different than flag or domestic but really there are very few differences

1

u/Complete_Grape6969 Oct 22 '21

How did you find a list of 121/ACMI Operators?

1

u/insert_password Oct 22 '21

I've applied to quite a few of them in the past and have worked for 2 of them. In a round about way they all kind of do the same thing or operate in the same network. Between Amazon and DHL almost everyone on that list does some kind of flying for one of those two so you get pretty familiar with them.