I believe it used to be a lot of the Captain's discretion for anyone riding in the cockpit but thanks to 9/11, the game changed a little, no, a lot more. Even wives and girl friends would fly in cockpit.
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Education wise varies quite a bit from person to person initially. You have to attend a certified school for a (typically) 6-8 week course to obtain your dispatch certificate. That's the easy part. Once you have the certificate, and get a job, (at least here at SWA) there's two months of classroom training, followed by anywhere from 3-9 months of OJT. There's a wide range because you're hired as an asst. dispatcher which performs the asst duties, plus the additional OJT with a trainer on the desk. You stay in that role until there's an opening that would allow you to upgrade.
(I'll post the duties after I take the kids to school. There's waiting on me. :cool:)
Thanks for sharing that SKC. I hope you enjoy your job and find it fulfilling. Be safe, hope your family is all doing good.