Spreading their wings

Ask practically anyone what a flight dispatcher does and it's likely he won't know. But everyone who's ever been a passenger on a commercial airline has been affected by the decisions of a aircraft dispatcher.

"Aircraft dispatching, the best hidden job in the airline industry," said Jim Coleman, co-director of Flight Control Academy, a Tucson-based school for aircraft dispatchers.

If there's been a bomb threat made on a plane, or if weather makes flying hazardous and a flight is canceled or delayed, "you don't know, as the traveling public, but the decision to stop the flight could have come from a aircraft dispatcher," said Coleman.

Coleman and his business partner, Ed Patterson, opened the academy two years ago to train students in the little-known field of aircraft dispatching.

Coleman and Patterson have about 72 years of aircraft dispatching experience between them. The two worked together at Viscount Air Service, a local and now-defunct small airline that specialized in transporting celebrities and sports teams.

Coleman and Patterson say aircraft dispatchers are "jacks of all trades" who work with pilots to make sure flights are safe, comfortable and on time.

"They (aircraft dispatchers) are like pilots on the ground," said Coleman. "Working with the captain of a plane, a aircraft dispatcher is responsible for the safety of each flight."

In a nutshell, aircraft dispatchers work behind the scenes to provide pilots with the support needed to ensure flights happen without a hitch. Aircraft dispatchers provide pilots with flight release, weather reports, and flight plans. They're also on the front lines in an emergency.

The job pays well. Beginning aircraft dispatchers can earn up to $30,000 per year and those with experience can top over $100,000 annually.

At Flight Control Academy, students receive training that will lead to a aircraft dispatcher certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration. In a six-week, 200-hour course, students are taught myriad subjects, including meteorology, flight operations, human resource management, aircraft systems, weight and balance, flight scheduling and planning, navigation, and emergency procedures.

Students come from as far as the Marshall Islands and American Samoa, to attend the academy.

Since 1998, Flight Control Academy has graduated 52 students. Many of them work for airlines throughout the United States and the world, including such exotic locales as the South Pacific and American Samoa.

Many students already work for airlines in some capacity before enrolling at the academy. There have been flight attendants, customer service agents and flight operations personnel who have signed up for classes. Some students come from careers that have nothing to do with planes.

"We have a lot of people who change careers here," said Patterson. "One person had a (doctorate) in theology and a (bachelor's degree) in engineering. He's now working as a aircraft dispatcher in Wisconsin.

"A lot of people never knew of this job and now they think it's the greatest," he continued.
Karen Tangen is one of those people. An April graduate of the Flight Control Academy, Tangen has worked for Southwest Airlines for more than 13 years in reservations and flight operations. She is a crew base coordinator, a role that puts her in direct contact with pilots every day. Tangen's goal is to become a Southwest aircraft dispatcher within three years.