Dispatcher

A flight dispatcher is an employee of an airline, which is responsible for pre-flight and the bottom-side support of flights. Other common names for this occupation are " dispatcher " and " Flight Operation Officer" ( FOO ) and " Flight Operation Controller" (FOC ).

Tasks

The flight dispatcher is an important partner of the pilot on the ground. An official license for the practice of the profession is required. If there is no license, the activity is carried out under the supervision of a licensed dispatcher. This profession is then called as " Movement Controller" or " Dispatch contender". In Germany, the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt ( LBA) is issued in Braunschweig under the regulation of aviation personnel. The German flight dispatcher license based on international law, in particular with ICAO Annex 1 and 6 and the ICAO DOC 7192 D3. This was in Germany to national law in § § 112 to 114, LuftPersV ( Regulation on aviation personnel ) Template: § / Maintenance / buzer implemented and defined.

Scope of German permit under LuftPersV: " The authorized permission to perform pre-flight and the bottom-side support of the responsible pilot in command during the flight professionally or commercially. "

Training

In Germany, vocational training for flight dispatchers are uniform. She has a duration of officially six months ( the actual duration is approximately twelve months ) and is usually offered in authorized flight schools. The exchange of knowledge takes place in the classic division by theoretical ( in form of teaching in vocational schools ) and practical content (for air carriers ). The training includes, inter alia, following learning areas:

• Flight planning and monitoring
• Meteorology
• Aviation law, air traffic and air navigation regulations
• General navigation and radio navigation
• Weight and balance point customer
• Technology, aircraft and engine customer
• Aerodynamics and flight performance
• Telecommunications equipment, data transfer and communication procedures, traffic flow control points
• Human Performance

The final examination is centrally organized by the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt. This award in existence, the official German license for flight dispatchers.

License

The German license is now granted with unlimited validity. Previously, the validity was limited to two years and a performance record was the extension required. In IATA Operational Safety Audit ( IOSA ) certified company that ongoing training of the flight dispatcher is prescribed.

To grant the license must have extensive theoretical knowledge, comparable with are those who ( ATPL ) are necessary for obtaining a commercial pilot's license, proven. In addition, knowledge in telecommunications method, air traffic control procedures and the handling of complex computer applications have to be managed. Interest in aviation and very good English skills are also prerequisites.

According to German law ( LuftPersV ), the transport pilot license and other flying licenses be extended by an additional examination and an appropriate placement for the flight dispatcher license.

Other countries (eg the USA and Canada) have to share the responsibility for a safe flight, a system of " joint responsibility" in the pilot and flight dispatchers. This system was introduced after a plane crash in the U.S. in 1938 by the "Civil Aeronautic Act". Here, the flight dispatcher monitoring the flight operations ( " Flight Watch " ) with the aid of computer programs and instructs the pilot to circumstances that could impair the safety of the flight or be a useful information for the pilot. This can be, for example, the closure of airports and airways, weather changes and technical irregularities. Pilots and flight dispatchers here work hand in hand to make optimal decisions.

Benefits

A great advantage of this system is the number of flights, supervise the flight dispatcher: The fact that a flight dispatcher on the short distance in each layer partially unwinds up to 100 individual flights, dispatchers are in the system of " joint responsibility" often confronted with irregularities as pilots and can therefore provide quality information. Even in long-distance Dispatch, where processed by the increased effort by less automation significantly less Flights from each dispatcher, this is true.

One of the main tasks of the dispatcher, it is nowadays to ensure that the entire operation of an airline runs as economically as possible. In most cases, it is not profitable to let the captain himself create an elaborate flight planning with its numerous regulatory and operational provisions. For this purpose, the working time of a captain or first officer is usually just too expensive and therefore not economically meaningful. The dispatcher as a specialist in the field of flight planning is often a better solution here, since he usually knows the exact detailed regulatory and operational provisions as these in the Vorflugplanung often represent different than in flight, for example, it is other meteorological information note, as such, which are relevant during the flight.

It should also be noted that the layer lengths are often many dispatchers 10 to 12 hours per day. To compensate, however, be granted " off- days ". Numerous dispatcher working in shifts.

Other countries have adapted this system in the recent past, such as Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and the People's Republic of China.

In recent years, several incidents have occurred in Europe, which would have been prevented by " Flight Watch " and " joint responsibility". The topic of " Joint Responsibility / Flight Watch " is currently being discussed in Europe in the wake of unification under the umbrella of EASA controversial.