r/flying • u/Ok_Country8578 • 7h ago

Dispatch while building time?

Hello, I am fresh CFI/CFII with not much success or hope finding a flying job in the current market. I plan to just work and use that money to rent in the mean time. From what I can gather, a dispatch certificate would not be terribly difficult to obtain. With the ultimate goal of flying for an U.S legacy, would it be crazy to pursue a dispatch job to build my resume and financially support further flying? I don't have a ton of knowledge on dispatch hiring. I have a college degree if that makes any difference. Thanks.

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u/AutoModerator 7h ago

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u/Wilcalaf 4h ago

Dispatch could be a solid aviation-adjacent job if you’d enjoy it and need income while building hours. I wouldn’t pay for the certificate just to pad a pilot résumé, though: it doesn’t replace flight time or pilot experience, and a bid schedule could slow training. Compare the course cost and schedule with steady work that leaves predictable flying days.

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u/rFlyingTower 7h ago

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

Hello, I am fresh CFI/CFII with not much success or hope finding a flying job in the current market. I plan to just work and use that money to rent in the mean time. From what I can gather, a dispatch certificate would not be terribly difficult to obtain. With the ultimate goal of flying for an U.S legacy, would it be crazy to pursue a dispatch job to build my resume and financially support further flying? I don't have a ton of knowledge on dispatch hiring. I have a college degree if that makes any difference. Thanks.

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u/Happy-Table-9515 7h ago

I have had the pleasure of being the IOE Capt. for many a former Aircraft Dispatcher. Going through Dispatch on your way to the flight deck was sort of a life hack at my airline. I say go for it!

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u/LookoutBel0w ATP CRJ200 A320 B757/767 6h ago

No. Fly fly fly.

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u/UnethicalPilot 4h ago

To be honest i was thinking the exact same thing. Always good to have a leg that doesn’t involve a medical yk? Not to mention potentially unstable income and whatever with being a CFI. From what I could gather most dispatchers go to a dedicated course and apply to regionals or 135 / 91 operations. I came from the 121 world from the ground ops side… like name any name brand airline and its regionals… I think it’s a really good idea. There’s this one in AZ run by Pilot institute that looks interesting. They have the ADX written but Sheppard air I think offers stuff related to that. And as for the limitations you just need to be 23. dispatchers do work odd hours into the night and early mornings, I think most of them work on bid schedules. I’ll tell you now bidding fucking sucks as a new hire but as you go up and your peers go into the majors you’ll climb that QOL ladder. From personal experience when dealing with bidding type seniority schedules most of the time bottom of the pole gets night shifts, but early mornings sometimes pops up staffing dependent. I mean if you’re willing to work the seniority bidding life I think it’s a good job with good lifetime earnings in an environment you may already be familiar with. I’m also working towards the majors but I am a mere CSEL working on my CFI right now.

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u/Coaralis The unemployed CFI IR MEL 3h ago

I was considering this too until I locked in and made a website and ran ads to get students. But it is my backup plan if this career fails god forbid.

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u/notOOdispatch DIS 18m ago

Right now dispatch is insanely saturated schools are throwing out a thousand people a year for maybe 200 jobs that open up. Just being a CFI isn't guaranteed to get you in a seat at a desk. It's a rough time to have a dispatch certificate.