Thread: flight crews fly free

Originally Posted by 29palms

I am not totally aware of all the dispatcher duties, what kind of training is involved, and what they bring to the table in education for hiring in as a dispatcher.

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. )